However, in the electoral campaign for general and local elections of April 1999, the party faced opposition from the Turkish authorities.
The government prohibited the party's Diyarbakır rally, planned for the week before the elections, and detained thousands of people.
[11] Despite the government's suppression, the party was successful in the local elections of April 1999 and won 37 mayorships, including Diyarbakır.
[12][11] In August 1999, President Süleyman Demirel welcomed seven of the HADEP mayors in Ankara, helping to alleviate the legal situation for the Kurdish politicians.
In 2002, it received support from Socialist International (SI) which demanded that Turkey provide a framework for a fair pluralistic democracy.
[18] The courts leading judge, Mustafa Bumin, stated that the party was a threat to the indivisibility of the Turkish Republic.