Erdoğan and Çiçek meet on charter timetable

With only five weeks remaining until the expiration of the mandate for the parliamentary panel tasked with writing the new Constitution, and with only a limited number of articles agreed upon, the Parliament speaker and the prime minister have agreed to step up the panel’s work, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek hosted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mehmet Ali Şahin over lunch yesterday to discuss the work of the Constitution Conciliation Commission. Çiçek and Erdoğan reportedly agreed to show flexibility for a couple more weeks if the prospect of reaching a consensus draft emerges.

“The panel can work in a more speedy way. Its working hours can be increased. It could push the limits to draft a joint text by the end of March. The Commission should get a move on,” Erdoğan told Çiçek, according to sources familiar with their meeting. Erdoğan signaled that he might give a green light for the extension of the Commission’s mandate by the end of April, if there was the prospect of producing a consensus draft.