CHP leader says Political Parties Law antidemocratic

Kılıçdaroğlu on Sunday responded to questions by the participants of a dinner organized by the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD) in Berlin. He said: “Who enacted the Political Parties Law? The perpetrators of the Sept. 12 coup. This law should be changed.”

Turkey’s law on political parties has been frequently criticized by European Union officials. The law brings a 10 percent national threshold for political parties to win seats in Parliament.

Commenting on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s pledge on the evening of Sept. 12 -- when the nation approved a set of constitutional amendments in a referendum -- to draft a new constitution Kılıçdaroğlu said his party would like to contribute to efforts to draft a more contemporary constitution if the prime minister keeps his word. Erdoğan highlighted in his remarks that there were no losers among the electorate when it came to the referendum -- asserting that the establishment of democracy and the expansion of the realm of freedoms was to everyone’s benefit. He also issued a call to party leaders, saying: “Come, let’s make a new constitution all together.”

Responding to a question by Özcan Mutlu, a deputy from the German Greens Party, who asked what the CHP is planning to do to change the European perception that the CHP is a pro-status quo party, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “We are going to break these prejudices; we are determined to do so. In fact, we are not a pro-status quo party, but this prejudice was deliberately created by some circles. I traveled to Brussels to break it, and I came here to do the same.” Kılıçdaroğlu and some other CHP officials also met with the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, for a breakfast in Berlin. Commenting following the meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu said they had a very positive meeting with Schulz.