Turkish aspirations to save its secular bequest took a new kink when President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed a bill comprising constitutional changes that would give people right to elect the president directly.
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Turkish President
The Turkish Parliament affirmed a constitutional amendment that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sought on May 11, with more than two third members in the 550 parliament supporting the resolution to give people right to elect the president. The bill, I think, was Erdogan’s dodge to secular party to get his choice approved for the presidency.
A standoff between Government and secularists resulted because of the presidential candidature of Abdullah Gul, the finance minister of the ruling party with Islamist past. Gul’s candidature has made people skeptic of chauvinistic aspirations of ruling Islamist party that can damage the secular legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - the founder of secular republic in 1923. The present bill came into being when 1.5 million secularists protested for the fourth consecutive time on may 13 with the same agenda, however, the ruling party, inarguably has party’s perspective in the national elections when it favored a bill that gives the right to people, instead of parliament, to elect the president by vote.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime minister
The bill proposed the changes in the terms of service and in the procedure of electing the president. According to current procedure president is elected by the parliament for seven years non renewable terms, however, the present resolution propagates the election of president by people for a five year term that can be renewed once.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, however supported his decision with the remark:
In the parliamentary system, these broad powers envisaged to achieve a balance of power could produce results which are troublesome for the regime ... if the president is chosen by the people
Mr. Sezer’s apprehensions are well of the mark for the constitutional changes, that he says, pose threats to Turkey’s democratic system as a president elected by people can cause afflictions in the working of the government and will put serious challenges to parliament, which is also directly elected by people. Erdogan is planning to send the bill back and in that condition President of Turkey is bound constitutionally to give his assent to the bill if it will be put forth without any alterations.
Political turmoil seems to be invigorated with each passing day. Even if the Turkish parliament passes the bill without any alterations, still, I think, there are no threats to the democratic republic of Turkey. The reason is a strong pro-secular Turkish army, which holds a strong influence and is the absolute defender of secularism, will not allow the power to slip into the hands of the Islamists to mar the development of the country by damaging the secular bequest especially when Turkey, after arduous efforts, is close to attain EU membership.
Source: BBC
