Democratic initiative to resolve controversial party closure practice

One of the middle-term targets of the package is to amend the Political Parties Law, and changing the law will most likely free the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which faces a closure case in the Constitutional Court, from being shut down.

The initiative will be discussed in the Cabinet meeting slated for Monday. Following the ministers' evaluation, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay will hold a press conference in which he will announce the roadmap for the initiative. Once Atalay presents the short, middle and long-term plans of the roadmap, the package is expected to be debated in Parliament and be finalized in an open parliamentary session.

The package's short-term goals include 26 items that do no require constitutional amendments. Shaped according to the framework of the first three articles of the Constitution, a significant portion of the package consists of amendments that will be made to the laws and bylaws.

The Turkish Penal Code (TCK), Counterterrorism Law, Citizenship to the Republic of Turkey Law, Law on Principles for Radio and Television Broadcasts, Law on Languages and Dialects Spoken Daily by Turkish Citizens, Higher Education Council Law, National Education Ministry Law, Local Administrations Law and the Directorate of Religious Affairs Law top the list of laws that will be amended within the scope of the package. The Political Parties Law was initially among the package's short-term goals but was delayed because it calls for a constitutional change.

The most important reason why the law was postponed is because it requires a constitutional change, which is an issue Parliament remains divided over. Justice and Development Party (AK Party) executives reckon it will be easier to reach a compromise over changing the Constitution once the first step in the democratic initiative, commonly referred to as the Kurdish initiative, is taken.

Speaking to Today's Zaman, AK Party group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ said they have completed the groundwork to change the Constitution and laws on closing political parties but noted that a constitutional change is not among the package's short-term goals.

He explained that although the AK Party is ready to make changes to the Constitution and the Political Parties Law the opposition's attitude will shape the fate of the steps to be taken in that direction.

Political Parties Law to be handled separately

Interior Ministry experts plan on discussing separately a legal arrangement that will allow political parties to use languages other than Turkish in political campaigning as part of a middle-term plan. 

The Ministry of Interior, which is concerned that an amendment to the article titled “Prevention of the Creation of Minorities” in the Political Parties Law will not be sufficient, is also paying close attention to the ongoing closure case filed against the DTP at the Constitutional Court.

The ministry believes that closing the DTP will not only have a negative impact on the Kurdish initiative but will also lead to a reduction in the European Union's support for the initiative. The ministry is also taking into consideration the Constitutional Court's anticipation for an amendment to the Political Parties Law.

The Constitutional Court has delayed handing down a ruling on the closure case against the DTP for two years because it has been expecting a change to the law since the closure case filed against the AK Party. If changes are made to the Political Parties Law, it will strengthen the hand of the Constitutional Court and enable it to reach a decision according to the new legislation.

However, amending the law on political parties alone is not enough to prevent the DTP from being dissolved. In addition to this law, Articles 68 and 69 of the Constitution, which regulate political party closures, must be modified as well.

The AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) conducted a join study on party closures last year, but the proposal to change the law never reached Parliament because of staunch Republican People's Party (CHP) opposition.

The Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights have issued strong warnings to Turkey on the subject of party closures in the past. Although the government completed the groundwork for changing the Political Parties Law, which was prepared following the Sept.12, 1980 coup d'état, it was unable to implement the changes.

Based on this law, which carries traces of the coup period, the Constitutional Court has shut down a total of 18 political parties since 1983. Of the 26 party closures that happened since the founding of the republic, 18 took place in the last 20 years, revealing that the law has turned Turkey into a graveyard for political parties.

All eyes turned to Turkey when a closure case was filed against the AK Party on March 14, 2008. The Constitutional Court's ruling in the case was deemed a historical disgrace because the court found the party guilty and imposed a fine but decided not to ban the party.

The work prepared by AK Party and MHP lawyers on changing Articles 68 and 69 of the Constitution to make it difficult to disband political parties have been included in the Kurdish initiative package's middle-term objectives.

The essence of the amendments is to adopt political party closure criteria applied in EU member countries into the Turkish Constitution and Political Parties Law. The proposals would limit the powers of the judiciary in closing political parties and restrict closure cases to fascist and terror-using political parties. While the authorities of the chief public prosecutors in closure cases will be protected, among the changes envisioned is to subject chief prosecutors to approval from Parliament or the Supreme Court of Appeals General Assembly.

Another amendment to the Political Parties Law will be to end the practice of banning party leaders that cause political parties to be dissolved from politics. Guilty party leaders will not be able to participate in the next elections. Also the condition stating guilty party leaders cannot become a founder, administrator, member or auditor of another political party will be removed, and the Constitutional Court will be obliged to make a ruling on closure cases based on unanimity instead of qualified majority.