Controversy abounds over length of Gül’s presidential term

Gül himself said he was not certain of the length of his term, as a law cutting down the presidential tenure from seven to five years was passed after he was elected, and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies have yet to reach a consensus on how long Gül should serve. The controversy was sparked by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal.

Ahead of the 2007 presidential elections, Baykal said he was ready to quit Parliament with all of his party’s deputies, a situation that would have forced a referendum, to prevent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from being elected as president. The CHP later challenged the April 27, 2007 presidential election rounds in Parliament at the Constitutional Court, saying less than 367 deputies had voted in the election, falling short of the quorum to elect a president. This was the first time “the 367 rule” was ever brought up in Parliament.

The Constitutional Court canceled the elections, but Gül was elected president by a new Parliament that was formed after the July 22, 2007 elections. On Oct. 21, 2007, a referendum was held asking the people whether presidential elections should be held every five years instead of seven and whether the people should elect the president. The referendum got a yes vote, but this created some ambiguity about Gül’s term. Some lawyers argue that Gül was elected when the office term was set at seven years, and therefore the result of the referendum cannot be applied retroactively in his case. They therefore contend that Gül should remain in office until 2014.

Baykal’s argument

This past weekend, CHP leader Baykal in a speech at his party’s İstanbul Provincial Congress said Gül’s term had to end at the fifth year, saying this was what the current Constitution stipulated, after the relevant article was changed in the referendum. He vowed that his party would challenge any legislation passed to ensure that Gül serves seven years. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also agrees that Gül should serve for five years and not seven. Prime Minister Erdoğan threw the ball in the court of the Supreme Election Board (YSK), saying they will make the ultimate decision. Although most in the AK Party believe the president should serve seven years as he was elected before the constitutional amendment was made through a referendum on the subject, Erdoğan’s remark appears to have led to a rift in the party. Opposition parties say Erdoğan wants to run for president in the 2012 election and that this is why he would like to see Gül go after five years.

Head of commission says seven years

Meanwhile, the head of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on the Constitution, AK Party deputy Sefer Üstün, says Gül should stay in office until the year 2014. He notes that the exact year was not shown in the referendum package because writing down exact dates in laws would lead to problems. Other AK Party jurists agree with Üstün. AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ recalled that a similar discussion took place in France in 2000. “The law was changed, and [Jacques] Chirac’s term in office was cut from seven years to five, but Chirac completed seven years in office. Anything else would actually mean removing the president from office before his term ends, and the conditions for removing a president from office are written out clearly in the Constitution.” Bozdağ, reiterating Erdoğan’s words, said the YSK will have the ultimate say on the issue.

Parliamentary Constitutional Commission head Burhan Kuzu, a professor of law, also agrees that Gül should serve for seven years. “The status is always preserved in cases where no provision stipulates otherwise. Mr. Gül should complete his term as he was initially elected for seven years.”

Süheyl Batum, a professor of law at Bahçeşehir University, also believes Gül should serve for seven years. “Let’s say the age you have for eligibility to be elected as a deputy is 25. Then you change the law and bringing that to 30. Are you going to kick out all the deputies who are younger than 25?” he asked.

Arınç on Gül’s term

Meanwhile, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç criticized Baykal yesterday in a statement, saying Baykal kept silent when former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer stayed in office despite his term having ended in 2007 until a new president was elected. He recalled that Sezer’s term had officially ended on May 14, 2007 but that he stayed until the end of August of that year. “How can Mr. Baykal, who did not say anything at that time, say that the president’s term in office is five years now?” he said.