A chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court earlier this month to close down the ruling party for allegedly trying to create an Islamic state in secular Turkey.
He also sought to ban 71 party officials, including the prime minister, along with the president, from politics for five years. The AK Party has denied the charges.
“Work in that direction will be completed in one or two days, and a constitutional amendment will be presented toward the end of the week to the head of Parliament,” Ergün told journalists at Parliament. He said they will seek support from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and if unsuccessful in that endeavor, they might go to a referendum on Article 69 of the Constitution, which defines the rules parties must abide by and how they can be closed.
"We can discuss changes in the Political Parties Law and the Election Law in the coming days and in light of the democratic steps that need to be taken," he said.
Articles 68 and 69 of the 1982 Constitution stipulate that citizens may form or join political parties without prior permission from the government. However political parties must act according to the principles of the Constitution and may be dissolved by the Constitutional Court if that body determines that their activities "conflict with the state's indivisible integrity."
Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya filed a case with the Constitutional Court on March 14 demanding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AK Party be disbanded on the grounds that it had become a "focal point of anti-secular activities."
'Three parties subject to closure'
Parliament may soon come to a halt because of party closure cases, Ergün said, pointing out that of the four parties currently represented in Parliament, three are currently facing closure cases.
Ergün noted that there is an ongoing closure case against the Democratic Society Party (DTP), an indictment has been prepared against the AK Party and that the MHP has been under scrutiny for a possible closure case.
"It has become imperative to redesign laws regarding party closures," Ergün said. "In total, these parties received 70 percent of the public's vote. In the latest indictment, some deputies have been accused only because they supported a change in the Constitution. If this goes on, Parliament will not be able to continue with its primary duty of passing legislation," he added.
Even though a referendum on these changes is an option Ergün said that the AK Party has not talked to any other parties or proposed any changes so far.
'MHP has no plans to change Constitution'
MHP parliamentary group chairman Mehmet Şandır said the MHP did not have any plans to change the Constitution regarding the political party or election laws to make party closures harder, despite reports that they have been preparing proposals to that end.
"I'm telling you clearly that our party does not have any proposals to change laws or the Constitution. And reports that we established a commission in that direction are wrong," Şandır said.
Another MHP acting group chairman, Oktay Vural, had said they formed a commission made up of legal specialists to toughen the rules on party closures.
Reporters reminded Şandır that MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli had said constitutional Articles 68 and 69 regarding political parties and election laws should be reviewed following the closure case against AK Party, and Şandır said:
"Bahçeli did not submit a proposal. He just proposed a solution to overcome the current crisis. It wasn't a proposal to change the Constitution."
He also said the AK Party had not shared its proposals with the MHP in this regard.
"Nobody contacted us from the AK Party. No calls, no conversations, no proposals have taken place. I worked at Parliament over the weekend. So did AK Party members. Nobody came over. I would know if there had been any proposals," he explained.
Asked what the MHP would do if it received such a proposal from the AK Party, Şandır said MHP officials would discuss it.
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