CHP continues to oppose goverment’s reform package

The CHP is also against a referendum on the package, arguing that there are legal limits as to when a referendum can be held. To date, the CHP has opposed all referenda held under civilian governments, although it has backed two referenda that came after coups d’état.

A similar situation occurred ahead of the 2007 presidential elections, when CHP leader Deniz 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 President Abdullah Gül 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 presidential election, but Gül was elected president by a new Parliament that was formed after the July 22, 2007 general 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 AK Party is now preparing to pass another package that seeks to reform Turkey’s judicial institutions, including the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). The CHP, which has challenged and in many cases effectively blocked various earlier constitutional reform attempts by the government, now says it is impossible to hold a referendum before a year passes after the referendum period change that was adopted in Parliament on Wednesday. Hakkı Süha Okay, the CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman, came up with a new formula to block any constitutional amendment. Basing his arguments on Articles 67 and 79 of the Constitution, Okay argued that any draft adopted in Parliament can only be enacted one year after its passage. Article 67 says constitutional amendments can only be enacted a year after elections. Article 79 describes public referenda as a form of election. According to this, if the AK Party’s constitutional package is taken to a public vote, this will mean that it would be applicable only after a year even if it is approved.

Baykal argues that the current Parliament is not eligible to make changes to the Constitution. During this week’s discussions he argued: “We are certainly opposed to any changes to the Constitution in such an environment. The AK Party is only now bringing a proposal to amend the Constitution despite being in power for the past eight years. It is trying to do this in order to ‘save itself’ in the event it loses power. Not only us, but high judicial organs and respectable jurists are also against it. The real target of the constitutional change package is to politicize the judiciary. It is impossible for a Parliament two of whose parties have been convicted by the Constitutional Court,” Baykal said, referring to two earlier rulings of the court declaring the AK Party a “center” of anti-secular activity and shutting down the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) predecessor, on charges of separatism. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also supports the idea that any change to the Constitution should be made by the new Parliament that would be formed after the next election.

Baykal had initially said if there is a referendum on the judicial change package, it will boil down to a general question of whether the AK Party should stay or go, adding that this was a great opportunity to get rid of the AK Party. However, last week, he made a U-turn saying his party would oppose any referendum and challenge all changes demanding a referendum at the Constitutional Court. The AK Party parliamentary group’s deputy leader, Suat Kılıç, said this was a clear indication that the CHP was in conflict with itself, arguing that the CHP has historically been afraid of the people. He said this was yet another attempt to avoid the people.

CHP always does the same

The last referendum in Turkey was held on Oct. 21, 2007, when the government proposed a package that would decease a parliamentary term to four years from five and would allow the people to elect the president as opposed to the Parliament. However, the CHP, with the backing of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), turned that package into a regime crisis and appealed it at the Constitutional Court.

Even in a referendum on Sept. 25 back in 1988, the CHP displayed the same attitude, opposing a referendum held by the Turgut Özal government to bring municipal elections one year earlier. However, the CHP backed the two coup referenda, the one held after the May 27, 1960 coup and the Sept. 12, 1980 coup.