Strange people living in a strange country… Why does this rush exist when it is clear that it will be the general leaders and their close circles of two, maybe three people, who will pick the deputy candidates? This would be a great research topic actually for a social psychology paper. Turkey needs to democratize, yes, but one of the most important steps that need to be taken is the democratization of its political parties. Despite the fact that every party which comes to power promises just that, this pre-election period does not seem to have reflected these promises at all. From the very start, deputies who actually make it to the Turkish Parliament are imprisoned in a certain psychology that curtails their freedom of expression, their freedom of thought… like shackles for elected officials. Yes to party discipline, but only if it is a party discipline that takes its strength from free will, belief in its deputies, compromise, shared volition and a love of service. On June 4, 2007, political parties will submit their lists of deputies to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) in Ankara. I am placing a lot of importance on this date because the names on these lists will be a true measure of these parties’ intentions, their goals, their ties to democracy and whether or not they truly plan on serving the country. And it sometimes happens that things which appear evil can lead to good. What is wrong is with the status of a deputy to be something controlled by the mouth of the party leaders.
As far as I am concerned, a candidate’s personal character should be less important during general elections -- not like in mayoral elections, for example. But in these general elections, you will note that the identities of the candidates will move to the forefront. Especially for the ruling party, the voter must know which deputy carried out which services during which period. The voters must know everything about how these candidates worked. Candidates who do not recognize this will face problems in these elections.
I think that June 4, 2007 will be in its essence the most critical day for the AK Party. Careful readers will recall the warnings and advice made to the AK Party in the run-up to the Nov. 3, 2002 elections in this very column. Unfortunately, much of this advice was not taken. This time, hoping that the AK Party leadership will think again in light of what we have experienced in Turkey, I will once again repeat what I said five years ago:
There is a desire both within and outside the ranks of the AK Party for this party to be a conservative democratic party, a party of the center -- not to be beholden to narrow views -- to embrace wider horizons, to succeed in encompassing a very wide spectrum of people. This wide embrace will bring about something Turkish politics has been longing for, the tolerance and culture of compromise which make up the very yeast of democracy. This wide embrace will also put an end to the secularity-democracy debates. This wide embrace will only serve to strengthen Turkey’s genuine interest and volition on the subject of EU membership. This wide embrace will ruin the games of those looking for ways to isolate the AK Party; it will also bring about an end to those fake debates over “legitimacy.” This wide embrace will reduce the tension raised in order to make the nation weaker against certain impositions. The deputy lists to be revealed on June 4 will be the most important signal for which horizon Turkey is tilting towards.
