Government open to changes to package, says Çiçek

Speaking yesterday at a meeting of government members and newspaper editors at İstanbul's Swissotel The Bosphorus to discuss the package, Çiçek said the government was not entirely satisfied about the content of the proposed package, but they were looking for consensus on it and would like to hear suggestions to improve it. He said the party's ultimate aim was to make a brand new constitution, with the exception of the first five articles. “That was our ultimate aim, but the situation has forced us to do this. If you look at the written proposals in the past, as far as in 1991, '92 and '93, you see that a new constitution was the demand of many political parties and professional unions.

The political parties who are negative about the proposal today have previously demanded the same changes. I am not saying this because I would like it to become part of a polemical discussion, but naturally, every suggestion that will be brought will be inadequate if you set the standard as [changing the entire Constitution.] We will evaluate suggestions from all organizations in the process. It is possible that new articles will be added to the package,” he said.

The government spokesman also stated that Turkey is the only country among the G20 countries that has a problem with its Constitution. “A constitution that prioritizes security in the year 2010 is not very realistic. We see that rights and freedoms are the dominant values of our day. Making a new constitution is imperative. The right thing to do would be to change all the constitutional articles except for the first five, but the political situation only permits changing a limited number of articles.”

He said the government sought consensus on a text, but the opposition refused to even talk about the package. “We need positive contributions. This is not only a problem for the [Justice and Development Party] AK Party but for all governments for whom the EU is important.”

In addition to Çiçek, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, AK Party Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik and the party’s deputy parliamentary group leader Bekir Bozdağ joined the meeting with editors-in-chief yesterday, responding to questions from participants. Speaking after the meeting, Çiçek said the meeting had been a very meaningful get together. “It has been very useful. We gave them information on the content of the proposal so that these discussions can move on in a productive manner.” He said they will be taking into consideration questions and criticism that arose during yesterday’s meeting.

AK Party Deputy Chairman Çelik also talked to the press after the meeting. In response to a question on the possibility of the opposition challenging the package at the Constitutional Court, he said: “We are working to meet a very important need in Turkey. We can’t simply refuse to set out on the road for fear of a possible accident.” He also stated that the government was open to all reasonable suggestions on the package.

Çiçek said they were working hard to improve the draft proposal to get the best possible version, saying that AK Party representatives were watching discussion programs on television every evening on the constitutional reform package so as to make use of the views of those who speak on those programs. He said the government planned to submit the finalized version of the draft to Parliament as soon as possible.

In response to a question on a criticism raised by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), whose members oppose the package, which introduces changes to the board’s structure, Çiçek said no concrete suggestion had yet been made. “The statements made are rather political statements, not clear proposals that have the quality of a suggestion. What we expect to hear is an alternative. Discussions such as ‘this and this are wrong, because of this and that, I would be doing this and this if it were me’ would be more constructive. At the end of the day, it is a legal text we have at hand. Even if the Constitution has a political aspect to it, it is in essence a legal text.” He said political discussions would not contribute to anything. He also said that professional unions appeared to be much more contributory in that respect in comparison with political parties.

In response to a question on whether the package would be referred to a public vote not in its entirety but article by article, Çiçek said that was up to Parliament to decide.