decide whether to approve the 29 amendments to the Constitution or
not. The amendments mainly concern reforming the justice system – the
Constitutional and Supreme Courts, including the power of civil courts
to initiate cases against the military, legal procedures against
organizers of the last military coup and the Court of Appeal to hand
over the power of dissolution of political parties to parliament. The
Turkish government is confident that the constitutional changes were
prepared taking into account the standards of the European Union,
which Turkey wants to join.
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the country’s ruling
Justice and Development Party (JDP), had previously announced an
earlier date for the referendum in June, but at the same time
reference was made to the new law on plebiscites. Nonetheless, the
Central Electoral Committee decided to have the act come into force
next year, and the referendum can only take place 120 days after the
vote, or on September 12th.
VK reported earlier that the amendment package prepared by the ruling
party was approved by the deputies at the beginning of May. The
changes involve reformation of the Constitution, adopted after a
military coup in 1980. If people approve the changes, Turkey will have
its own institution of ombudsmen, and protecting the rights of workers
and state employees will be simplified after the introduction of the
opportunity to make collective agreements and strike.
The majority of the opposition in the parliament intends to lodge a
protest with the Constitutional Court. Many parties ignored the voting
in the Majlis. What could become an obstacle for the opposition
deputies is a scandal around Deniz Baykal, chairman of the Republican
People’s Party (RPP) of Turkey. A Turkish newspaper presented
photographs of the party’s leader being intimate with one of the
female deputies of parliament. Videos later appeared on the Internet.
A spokesman for the RPP accused the ruling party of provocation.
However, the JDP rejected the charges and ordered that the website
containing the videos be blocked. Istanbul’s prosecutor’s office
started investigating the case as ‘a violation of private life’ and ‘a
personal insult’.
Forecasting the results of September’s vote is hard. The ruling party
had a better chance of bringing amendments through the referendum in
July, but in September it will be a tough problem for the JDP. The
opposition has a time lag to come up with arguments against the
amendments. In addition, the situation around the RPP may completely
change if any details of information leaks to the media are revealed.
One way or another, the summer will be pivotal for Turkey in its
desire to become a different state. On the one hand, the amendments
need to meet EU standards (ombudsmen and trade unions). On the other
hand, they could give more power to the parliament, the majority of
which belongs to Erdogan, than could be expedient in a different
situation, if some other party comes to power.
14.05.2010 / Author: Yevgeniy Krishtaliov exclusively for VK
