Erdogan ‘power bill’ puts Turkey at crossroads

Turkey’s parliament cleared the decks for constitutional reform that would concentrate even more powers in the office of the president. The parliament voted 339-142 to make the president the head of the executive and abolish the job of prime minister. The voters of the country will decide in a referendum on the proposal. In Turkey’s system, amendments to the constitution need to be approved by 367 of 550 members to become law. Proposals that receive between 330 and 367 votes can be referred to a plebescite.
The bill, which would abolish the role of the prime minister and introduce a presidential system, is to be approved in a national plebiscite slated for April.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began for constitutional reforms soon after the parliament vote cleared the way for a national referendum on the issue. Erdogan hailed the decision. He said more powerful presidency would catapult Turkey to a position of strength.
A change to the presidential system would be a crowning achievement for Erdogan, who has outmaneuvered and crushed all his major foes. The reforms would potentially allow him to remain in power until 2029.
Constitutional reforms were first floated by the ruling party after it won the 2011 general elections, but that failed to gain traction immediately. In 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the country’s first directly elected president and the idea of bolstering his office resurfaced. The ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, made the executive presidency central to its campaign promises in June 2015 general elections. In November 2016, the nationalist party declared it would back moves to switch to a presidential system, saying Erdogan’s rule was a de-facto presidential system anyway.
But there are many opposing this constitutional reform. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the opposition Republican People’s Party, vowed to lead a struggle for democracy to have the reforms rejected in the national vote. He said the Turkish people would upend the game being played in parliament.
Lawmakers of the pro-Kurdish and liberal People’s Democratic Party argued freedoms were being rolled back in the name of stability at a time when a divided nation needs more, not less democracy.
“If this presidential system passes, the state of chaos, crisis, instability, clashes, polarization we’ve experienced in the past 1½ to 2 years will become institutionalized and made permanent,” Hisar Ozsoy of the HDP said in a motion to dismiss the bill.
In the face of rising terror attacks in the country by IS extremists and Kurdish militants and government’s crackdown on Gulenists after coup bid, Erdogan is projecting himself as somebody able to deliver security to the Turks.
The attempt to transform Turkey’s government has polarized the nation. The ruling AKP is pushing for it saying it is needed to overcome security and economic challenges facing the country. But the overhaul would concentrate a dangerous amount of power in the hands of Erdogan, who has displayed a streak of autocracy, which evident from the crackdown on political opponents, journalists, academics and activists after failed coup attempt.
In the name of anti-terrorism campaigns, Erdogan has decimated an opposition pro-Kurdish party. The government took over dozens of media outlets, detained more than 100 journalists. There are hundreds of defamation cases against individuals who were accused of insulting the president.
The move to further empower Erdogan come at a time when Turkey has been drawn deeper into some of the region’s most intractable conflicts, especially in neighboring Syria. IS militants based there have attacked Turkish cities and border posts, killing scores. A decades-old conflict with separatist Kurds has been reignited.
The model proposed by Turkey lacks the safety mechanisms of checks and balances present in other countries like the United States. So, there is chance
it will fuel authoritarianism. The constitutional reform has put Turkey at political crossroads.