This text will subsequently be publicized for further discussion and deliberation. The status quo actors seem to have been disturbed by the preparation of a new constitution. Despite there still being no publicly announced draft, they cannot wait to express their bitter opposition.
Özbudun clarified a number of matters in an interview with our friend Murat Aydın. In the interview Özbudun recalled that Prime Minister Erdoğan invited him to his office and asked him to form a commission for the purpose of devising a new constitution. Özbudun was honored to accept the invitation considering the AK Party’s pledge in their election manifesto to introduce a civilian and democratic constitution based on universally recognized human rights standards and parliamentary regime principles.
Özbudun is not an ordinary scholar; he is the most renowned Turkish constitutional lawyer in the world. Currently he lectures on constitutional law and political science at Bilkent University. The commission headed by Özbudun also includes five other academics: Levent Köker, Yavuz Atar, Zühtü Arslan, Fazıl Hüsnü Erdem and Serap Yazıcı. As Özbudun notes, all are renowned lawyers known for their expertise in their respective areas of interest and democratic, liberal and secular views. They are real scholars committed to their academic studies without relying on governmental bodies.
The commission has worked on the draft for more than 100 hours, relying on international human rights conventions, decisions by the European Court of Human Rights, the constitutions of European countries, the draft constitutions prepared in Turkey so far, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD)-sponsored democracy reports and legal literature.
While this was the case, a group of actors including TÜSİAD Chairwoman Arzuhan Yalçındağ emerged to back Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, who criticized the work. They simply remark that the process of constitutional change should be transparent and not be carried out in a manner to take revenge. Let us recall what Baykal said: “The gains obtained with Lausanne and the republic will be at stake.”
There is no official draft; there is not even the draft of the draft. In what part of the world was a preliminary work shared with the public? And just where did this revenge discourse come from? Will the republic be at stake with democratization? What is the reason for this discomfort?
How the process will work is already clear. The text prepared at the Abant meeting will be discussed by the parties, academic circles, civil society organizations and media. The text subsequently will be submitted for discussion in the parliamentary Constitution Commission and the revised text will then be forwarded to Parliament, which will further discuss the draft and produce a final text. But the process will not be over then; the final text will be presented for public referendum. In other words, the people will decide.
Let me ask now what part of this process is secret and hidden? How will the eagerness to take revenge reveal itself in this long discussion period? We know what this is all about. The fact that a new constitution that will reinforce Turkish democracy will be adopted bothers the status quo-lovers. Their discomfort is mostly based on the possibility that the popular choice will replace their illegal rule, expanding the sphere of rights and freedoms. Such an expansion will restrict their ability to rule and dominate. This is the reason for their resistance and bitter opposition. It is for this that they are ready to start a new quarrel. But the determination of the popular will, which made itself known in the July 22 elections, will abort their plots.
