 |
AK Party resolute on referendum regardless of top court verdict
“Kılıç has revealed the color of his vote. He committed a crime. This is a legal scandal,” AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ told Today’s Zaman. “We will not give up on the idea of a referendum on the amendment package despite the nullification of a few articles by the top court,” he added, categorically denying claims that the ruling party has plans for early elections.
Bozdağ’s remarks were in reaction comments by Kılıç, who publicly said on Friday that the Constitutional Court is not considering annulling the whole constitutional package. “The court will examine only four or five articles,” he said. The “examination” refers to the evaluation of the content of the package, which the Constitutional Court is not entitled to do. A top court evaluation can, however, solely target procedural matters.
The AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairman also said his party does not plan to hold early elections, adding that the AK Party will continue to tell the nation about Turkey’s need for constitutional amendments until the next parliamentary elections on July 17, 2011.
The AK Party is concerned that the Constitutional Court may spoil the government’s plans to amend the existing Constitution, which was drafted under martial law after the Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’état. The party vowed to change the Constitution when it first swept to power in 2002, but failed to do so because of the reluctance of the opposition parties in Parliament.
The ruling party is closely monitoring the top court and is trying to guess whether it will make another scandalous decision similar to the one it made regarding the constitutional amendments supported by 411 deputies, who voted in favor of lifting the headscarf ban at universities.
Bozdağ: We will ‘appeal’ the decision
Bozdağ also told Today’s Zaman that the AK Party will “appeal” the verdict if the Constitutional Court decides to annul the constitutional amendments. “Our appeals court will be the nation. We will take the amendments to a referendum. We will tell the public about the constitutional amendments. The public stands as the ‘appeals’ authority on this issue. A possible annulment decision by the court will be turned down by the public,” he remarked.
According to Bozdağ, opposition parties’ expectations for early elections will remain a “dream.”
“We do not plan to hold early elections by any means. Each article included in the constitutional amendment package is a ‘win’ for Turkey. We will head for a referendum even if only three articles do not get annulled by the Constitutional Court,” he said. He also said he does not believe the top court will annul the package.
“The Constitutional Court said in its decision about the headscarf amendments that Parliament cannot make amendments to the Constitution without permission by the court. The existence of Parliament will lose meaning if the court makes a similar decision again. The top court will violate the Constitution if it decides to annul the amendment package. People will question its legitimacy,” Bozdağ noted.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BÜLENT KENEŞ |  |
||
| What befell Niyazi-i Misri in the past is happening to Fethullah Gülen now | |||
| EKREM DUMANLI |  |
||
| When a call for fairness and reason finds acceptance | |||
| ŞAHİN ALPAY |  |
||
| Uludere, test case for democracy in Turkey | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Are the Kurds mentally divorced from Turkey? | |||
| GÖKHAN BACIK |  |
||
| Erdoğan, Gül and Davutoğlu: the inner bargain on Turkish foreign policy | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| Taking lessons from previous experiences with the military | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| Qualm | |||
| ÖMER TAŞPINAR |  |
||
| A new phase in Syria? | |||
| İHSAN DAĞI |  |
||
| Turkish foreign policy: Time for a re-evaluation | |||
| SEYFETTİN GÜRSEL |  |
||
| Poor-friendly economic growth and the AK Party | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| Missing women, missing opportunities | |||
| BERK ÇEKTİR |  |
||
| Changes to incentives for investment in Turkey | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| The 1960 coup: a final test for democracy | |||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
