Today’s Zaman, Turkish daily reported that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of most important Turkish opposition party, Republican People’s Party (CHP) warned that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister, has acted like an ‘elected dictator,’ and wrought disaster on constitution for personal powers.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu asserted that Erdoğan, elected as Prime Minister in 2003, has launched a campaign to change the Turkish system to Presidency, so that he can remain in the power this time as president. “Turkey needs a new constitution in order to guarantee individual rights of people,” he said.
Turkey’s current charter goes back to 1982, which was drafted after a military coup. It is old and does not fit to Turkey’s objective of joining the European Union. Erdoğan’s plan ignores division of branches of power, for example, it gives the discretion for the president to appoint court judges.
The leader of Republican People’s Party also added that unfortunately Erdoğan was a dictator. “Dictator’s rule is widespread, no one can easily speak in their phones, the civil society is under pressure, universities cannot express their positions, labor unions are silenced, the media are disturbed, and no single opposition voice comes out of Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“These measures secure concentration of power in a single individual. This is a disaster for Turkey, and despoil all democracy achieved so far in Turkey,” said Kılıçdaroğlu.
Erdoğan has announced that if political parties do not come to an agreement about the draft of the constitution by the end of March, his ruling party would propose the draft and put it to public vote. Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu described this act as ‘blackmailing.’
“ Many journalists have lost their jobs for criticizing Erdoğan’s government, and those who working are forced to censoring themselves,” said he, adding that imprisoned journalists in Turkey was more than that in many other countries.
SH/EA
MNA
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