Today, Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opposition coalition pledged to restore a parliamentary system with an honorary-role president elected for a single seven-year term if he comes to power in May. 2300 head. The parties intend to put an end to the powers of the executive branch, in particular by canceling presidential decrees with a prime minister elected by parliament.
There is no doubt that the coalition candidate will be chosen from the Republican People’s Party (Social Democratic), which is the party of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the republic in 1923, and is also the first opposition force in parliament.
Presidential elections will be held simultaneously with legislative elections on May 14, and if necessary, the second round can be held on May 28.
Six opposition parties, most notably the Republican People’s Party, united in one front called the National Alliance, known as the “table of six”, to end the undisputed rule of the head of state by returning to the separation of powers. strengthening the role of the parliament and the “executive branch responsible” for its decisions, as well as “an independent and impartial judiciary”.
Thus, executive power is vested in the prime minister, who is elected by parliament, while the president can only be elected for one seven-year term.
Erdogan, who heads the Justice and Development Party, was prime minister from 2003 to 2014, then became president in August 2014 and was first elected by direct popular vote before being re-elected in 2018. In 2017, a revision of the constitution greatly expanded its powers. .
If elected, the opposition promises that the constitutional amendments will be put to a vote in parliament, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority, or 400 votes out of 600.
The opposition also reaffirms its intention to reverse presidential decrees, which Erdogan has long used to fire high-ranking officials, including the governor of the Central Bank, and in 2021 to cancel the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. violence.
The opposition will seek to deprive the president of the right to block a law previously discussed in parliament, on the condition that he has the opportunity to return it to representatives if he wants to object to it.
The National Alliance also promises to make the persecution of any political party for the purpose of its ban conditional on parliamentary approval.
The opposition intends to take a symbolic step by returning the presidential residence to the historic Çankaya Palace. On a hill near Ankara, Erdogan built a controversial palace of more than 1,100 rooms that opened in 2014 and includes a mosque, library and conservatory.
Similarly, the coalition wants to promote freedom of expression and freedom of the press by “restructuring” the state agency Anadolu and the public channel TRT.
In the face of the economic crisis, the National Alliance says it will bring inflation down significantly “within two years” after it has risen to over 60 percent in the past 12 months. He also promised to “restore confidence in the Turkish lira” which has collapsed in recent years.
At the diplomatic level, the opposition reaffirmed that it would respect the treaties and charters and summed up the question by saying “Peace in the country, peace in the world”, referring to Atatürk’s phrase.
Thus, Turkey will remain in NATO “taking into account its national interests” and will maintain relations with Russia on the basis of “balanced dialogue”, while restoring contacts with Syria.
The opposition hopes to make Turkey a “full member” of the European Union and establish “equal relations” with the United States, in particular, by concluding an agreement on the supply of F-35 fighter jets.
The National Alliance, which may announce its candidate on February 13, has defended the delay in this regard. “Everything is happening in accordance with our strategy,” CHP spokesman Faik Oztrak said.
