Much tug-of-war, not so much reform debate in Referendum rallies

Turkey is indeed familiar with the angry faces of politicians as disagreements and conflicts among political parties are not a rare occasion. Politicians usually use rallies to respond to accusations directed at them by their counterparts. The accusations mainly include corruption and abuse of power. As the referendum on the reform package -- which contains vital changes to the 1980 coup Constitution -- draws nearer, political party leaders have adopted a tougher and ruder language against each other. They are, however, losing credibility and prestige in the eyes of the public in this way, according to observers.

The new trend of an exchange of accusations among politicians is “worrisome” for Taha Akyol, a senior columnist for the Milliyet daily. He said the nature of democratic politics contains tough criticism and competition, but should not involve an “overdose.”

“The prime minister’s reference to Republican People’s Party [CHP] leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as ‘civil servant Kemal’ is not nice at all. The culture the prime minister comes from and the responsibility he carries require a discourse that ‘heralds rather than frightens,’ doesn’t it?” the columnist asked in his column on Thursday. All started in late May when Kılıçdaroğlu was elected the new CHP leader. Kılıçdaroğlu inched opened the door for a heated polemic with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he called him “Recep Bey” instead of referring to him as “Mr. Prime Minister” or “Mr. Erdoğan.” Most commentators found the rhetoric insulting and improper.

Since then, neither leader has missed a chance to verbally attack the other. They have turned referendum rallies into opportunities to direct more accusations against each other and in this way -- albeit partially -- ignored the real purpose of the rallies, which is to inform voters about the content of the constitutional amendment package and persuade them to either vote for or against.

“I’d rather the CHP express its criticism of the reform package during the rallies than building its referendum campaign on polemics. I’d rather it express what it would like to see in the constitutional amendment package. I know that a referendum cannot depend solely on technical judicial debates. I know that politics always outweighs such debates. But wouldn’t it be better for the CHP to build its campaign on its political priorities?” Akyol asked.

The constitutional amendment package seeks to make vital changes to the current Constitution, ratified in a 1982 referendum after a military coup two years earlier. Martial law dominated the country at the time, and most voters were forced to support the new constitution. The document gained the support of 92 percent of the public. However, all segments of society agree that changes must be made to the Constitution, which restricts fundamental human rights and freedoms.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party), led by Prime Minister Erdoğan, pledged to change the Constitution with a new and civilian one when it rose to power as the single-party government in 2002. It drafted a constitution in 2007 but failed to secure the support of opposition parties -- the CHP, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Thus, the AK Party recently prepared a list of amendments to the Constitution in the hope of responding to the public’s urgent needs. The amendments will be voted on in a referendum on Sept. 12, the 30th anniversary of the 1980 coup d’état. If the package is ratified in the referendum, the AK Party will roll up its sleeves, this time to prepare a brand new constitution.

According to Sabah daily columnist Nazlı Ilıcak, the polemics between the political party leaders at referendum rallies are not meaningful at all. She said people who follow the tug-of-war between the politicians are highly perplexed.

“Take the debate over the ‘villa with a pool,’ for example. How did this polemic emerge and place itself on top of the agenda? Or the polemic over Erdoğan’s pension? Who cares about them? Can a man not own a villa with a pool? Is it an absolute sign of richness? Or can a man not purchase a villa without being engaged in corruption?” Ilıcak asked.

The debate over the villa with a pool emerged last week when Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu is not as honest as he presents himself to be, and the proof of this is that he owns seven apartments and a villa with a pool. The CHP leader once said publicly that he would never live in a villa with a pool, contrary to many politicians, and that he would prefer to continue his life in an apartment like ordinary people. The Ankara mayor believes that Kılıçdaroğlu’s possession of a villa is a strong indicator that he lied to the public.

AK Party Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik joined the leaders’ ongoing polemics and said on Friday that debates over a villa with a pool or the prime minister’s pension would not solve people’s problems, urging political party leaders to focus on the content of the reform package rather than wasting time directing accusations at each other during referendum campaigns.