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Opposition cold to Erdoğan’s presidential system proposal
Commenting on Erdoğan’s remarks, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said in televised remarks yesterday that the prime minister’s remarks should not be taken seriously, arguing that Erdoğan is trying to consolidate absolute power over the country. Stating that Erdoğan sees a presidential system as a means of achieving these plans, Baykal said Turkey should thoroughly evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this system.
As he answered questions from a group of journalists on ATV on Sunday, Prime Minister Erdoğan said it was very likely that Turkey would again discuss the adoption of a presidential system after the upcoming general elections, recalling that the issue was the subject of a heated debate during the tenure of the late President Turgut Özal.
“If our public grants us the right to make such a change in a new constitution, this issue may come to the agenda and be discussed,” he added.
Stressing that he is favorably inclined to the idea of adopting a presidential system in Turkey on the grounds that it will facilitate the running of the system and will yield more fruitful results for the country, Erdoğan said the US presidential system might be taken as a model.
The CHP’s general accountant and spokesperson Mustafa Özyürek also commented on the prime minister’s remarks yesterday, arguing that Erdoğan’s proposal would effectively switch to a dictatorship rather than a presidential system. Answering a question on whether the government is laying the groundwork for a switch to presidential system with its recent constitutional amendment package, Özyürek said: “We spoke about this issue before. We are opposing three articles of the package [concerning the judicial reform of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) as well as one on making party closures difficult]. Approving these three articles means putting the HSYK and the Constitutional Court under politicians’ authority. … Broadening the authorities of the president shows that the government has been already taking steps towards a presidential system,” he said. Noting that unemployment and poverty are the top agenda items in Turkey, Özyürek said the government is trying to gloss over these issues with such debates.
Turkey’s political system is based on the principle of separation of powers. The executive power is exercised by the government. The legislative power is vested in both the government and Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. As of 2007, the president is elected every five years by a public vote in Turkey. Executive power rests with the prime minister and the Cabinet.
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) did not welcome Erdoğan’s proposal, either. MHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Oktay Vural also accused Erdoğan of starting a new and unnecessary debate. “This is a futile debate, whose content is a mystery,” he said.
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