Yeni Şafak’s Fehmi Koru, who terms the ongoing referendum fight among the parties a “battle,” says one side aims to transform the state into a democracy with freedoms while the other comprises politicians and bureaucratic staff who work hand-in-hand to oppose change. In Koru’s view, even though the referendum may not be a case of life or death for the Republican People’s Party (CHP), it is so for CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu because his possible defeat in the referendum through the approval of the package will place his leadership into a difficult position. For the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which supports a “no” vote on the package, he says the MHP has guaranteed -- even now -- that it will be the biggest loser on the morning of Sept. 13. “Being part of a coalition that is dragging the nation in the wrong direction while trying to stop the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] government has brought such a fate to the MHP,” he says.
Yasin Doğan, another Yeni Şafak columnist, says the biggest losers in the referendum will be two political parties: the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and the MHP. This is because the BDP insists on a boycott even though it knows that its grass roots will vote “yes” on the reforms. For the MHP, it is because it is urging a “no” vote, and thereby rejecting its history and political identity. “No matter what comes out of the referendum, these two parties will undergo a trauma and suffer the rage of the people. If a ‘yes’ comes out of the referendum, the party administrations will be victims of their lack of foresight and principles. If a ‘no’ vote emerges from the referendum, they will have to pay a cost again for the situation they led to,” Doğan says.
Bugün’s Ahmet Taşgetiren is also concerned about the fate of the MHP as he says the disharmony between the MHP administration calling for a “no” vote and the values of its grass roots is dragging the party to a historic breaking point. “Why is the MHP saying ‘no’ to reforms? Is it because it shares the same values as the CHP? Does it protecting the status quo carry any meaning for its nationalist-conservative grass roots? The MHP grass roots ask this question, but they cannot get an answer,” Taşgetiren says.
