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CHP leader sets 2012 deadline for Turkish president
The main opposition chief calls for a quick decision on the next presidential vote, urging Gül to ‘protect credibility’ by stepping down in 2012
Kemal kilicdaroğlu
Parliament’s top priority should be to pass a law regulating the referendum to elect Turkey’s next president, the leader of the main opposition said Thursday, calling for President Abdullah Gül to step down in 2012.
Gül’s tenure will end Aug. 28, 2012, though some ambiguity remains about its length.
“Mr. President should no longer sit in this chair after 2012,” Republican People’s Party, or CHP, chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview. “His five-year term is nearing its end. Therefore Parliament should immediately adopt a law regulating next year’s referendum.”
A constitutional amendment in 2007 reduced the president’s tenure to five years from seven years with a chance to be reelected through a popular vote, and Parliament’s mandate from five years to four. Some members of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, argue however that as Gül was elected before the constitutional amendments his tenure should be seven years. Legal arrangements must be made before the next referendum can take place.
“The position of the Justice and Development Party is not important. It’s up to the president. Mr. President should stand and announce that his term is for five years,” Kılıçdaroğlu told the Daily News. “He should do this in the name of protecting the credibility of this post. I believe Mr. President will be sensitive in protecting this post. Otherwise he would disregard the importance of his post.”
Referring to the opinion held by some AKP officials that Gül’s mandate will end in 2014, the CHP chief asked: “Why is that? Then why did the mandate of the deputies [of the former Parliament] end in four years? Consistency is the basis of the law. Tenures of deputies and the president were set in the same constitutional amendment. There is no amendment for a specific person. If it’s four years for a deputy, the president’s tenure is five years.”
“Are you afraid of the people? No. Don’t you trust in the people’s common sense? No. Then let’s pass this law and let’s give the chance for Mr. Gül to be reelected for his post this time through a referendum,” he added.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s statement is likely to spark renewed debate over the presidential mandate ahead of the constitution-making process that will start with the opening of the new parliamentary term Oct. 1. The CHP chief said, however, that these two issues are not linked and that addressing the presidential mandate was not a precondition for writing the new charter.
“This has nothing to do with the constitution-making process. It will have a separate track. If we do respect the people’s foresight then we should adopt it [the law on the presidential referendum] immediately after the opening of the Parliament,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
AKP-BDP alliance for new charter?
The CHP already started work on rewriting Turkey’s constitution even before the June 12 general election, Kılıçdaroğlu said, adding that the party’s aim was “to reach a charter that would get the consent of all Turkish citizens.”
Claims have been made that the AKP and CHP, the country’s two largest parties, which obtained 76 percent of the total votes, could agree on a new constitution even if other parties opposed it. Kılıçdaroğlu denied these claims and said he was seeking the largest possible societal contract for the charter.
“Each citizen should be able to embrace the constitution,” he said, adding however that the AKP could seek an alliance with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, if it fails to obtain the backing of the CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.
“Do not pay too much attention to the current cold winds between them [the AKP and the BDP]. They can cooperate. My view is based on the fact that the talks with İmralı brought three consecutive cease-fires,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to the island where outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, leader Abdullah Öcalan is serving a life sentence.
The CHP chief argued that the declarations of truces by the outlawed terrorist organization were the results of some promises given by the government. “AKP officials and the prime minister emphasized the new constitution after each postponement. We do not know [what happened] backstage but the AKP and BDP know,” he said.
Responding to Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ’s call for parties to appoint figures capable of compromise to the parliamentary commission that will write the new charter, Kılıçdaroğlu said there was no need to start the process with prejudices. “The task of the commission is to find consensus. Therefore there is no need to hurry,” he said. “Let’s keep the process in a healthy way and let’s not rush. We will analyze in-depth the constitutions of other countries and the realities of Turkey to draft a new charter.”
CHP leader sets 2012 deadline for Turkish president - Hurriyet Daily News
The main opposition chief calls for a quick decision on the next presidential vote, urging Gül to ‘protect credibility’ by stepping down in 2012
Kemal kilicdaroğlu
Parliament’s top priority should be to pass a law regulating the referendum to elect Turkey’s next president, the leader of the main opposition said Thursday, calling for President Abdullah Gül to step down in 2012.
Gül’s tenure will end Aug. 28, 2012, though some ambiguity remains about its length.
“Mr. President should no longer sit in this chair after 2012,” Republican People’s Party, or CHP, chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview. “His five-year term is nearing its end. Therefore Parliament should immediately adopt a law regulating next year’s referendum.”
A constitutional amendment in 2007 reduced the president’s tenure to five years from seven years with a chance to be reelected through a popular vote, and Parliament’s mandate from five years to four. Some members of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, argue however that as Gül was elected before the constitutional amendments his tenure should be seven years. Legal arrangements must be made before the next referendum can take place.
“The position of the Justice and Development Party is not important. It’s up to the president. Mr. President should stand and announce that his term is for five years,” Kılıçdaroğlu told the Daily News. “He should do this in the name of protecting the credibility of this post. I believe Mr. President will be sensitive in protecting this post. Otherwise he would disregard the importance of his post.”
Referring to the opinion held by some AKP officials that Gül’s mandate will end in 2014, the CHP chief asked: “Why is that? Then why did the mandate of the deputies [of the former Parliament] end in four years? Consistency is the basis of the law. Tenures of deputies and the president were set in the same constitutional amendment. There is no amendment for a specific person. If it’s four years for a deputy, the president’s tenure is five years.”
“Are you afraid of the people? No. Don’t you trust in the people’s common sense? No. Then let’s pass this law and let’s give the chance for Mr. Gül to be reelected for his post this time through a referendum,” he added.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s statement is likely to spark renewed debate over the presidential mandate ahead of the constitution-making process that will start with the opening of the new parliamentary term Oct. 1. The CHP chief said, however, that these two issues are not linked and that addressing the presidential mandate was not a precondition for writing the new charter.
“This has nothing to do with the constitution-making process. It will have a separate track. If we do respect the people’s foresight then we should adopt it [the law on the presidential referendum] immediately after the opening of the Parliament,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
AKP-BDP alliance for new charter?
The CHP already started work on rewriting Turkey’s constitution even before the June 12 general election, Kılıçdaroğlu said, adding that the party’s aim was “to reach a charter that would get the consent of all Turkish citizens.”
Claims have been made that the AKP and CHP, the country’s two largest parties, which obtained 76 percent of the total votes, could agree on a new constitution even if other parties opposed it. Kılıçdaroğlu denied these claims and said he was seeking the largest possible societal contract for the charter.
“Each citizen should be able to embrace the constitution,” he said, adding however that the AKP could seek an alliance with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, if it fails to obtain the backing of the CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.
“Do not pay too much attention to the current cold winds between them [the AKP and the BDP]. They can cooperate. My view is based on the fact that the talks with İmralı brought three consecutive cease-fires,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to the island where outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, leader Abdullah Öcalan is serving a life sentence.
The CHP chief argued that the declarations of truces by the outlawed terrorist organization were the results of some promises given by the government. “AKP officials and the prime minister emphasized the new constitution after each postponement. We do not know [what happened] backstage but the AKP and BDP know,” he said.
Responding to Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ’s call for parties to appoint figures capable of compromise to the parliamentary commission that will write the new charter, Kılıçdaroğlu said there was no need to start the process with prejudices. “The task of the commission is to find consensus. Therefore there is no need to hurry,” he said. “Let’s keep the process in a healthy way and let’s not rush. We will analyze in-depth the constitutions of other countries and the realities of Turkey to draft a new charter.”
CHP leader sets 2012 deadline for Turkish president - Hurriyet Daily News
