Today the Turkish people decided the future of the political system in the Turkish state, with the participation of 86 percent in the referendum on constitutional amendments, where the vote of the Turks “yes” in favor of the referendum on constitutional amendments that pave the way for the biggest change in the Turkish political system, as announced the sort 99.98% of the votes, and according to the unofficial results of the popular referendum on amendments to some of the articles of the Turkish Constitution, the proportion of votes cast “yes” amounting to 51.21%, while the percentage of votes cast “no”, 48.79.
In his first speech in front of his supporters, following the results of sorting the majority of votes in the referendum on the constitutional amendments, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on the late Sunday night that Turkey has taken a historic decision and ended the ongoing debate since 200 years ago about the ruling system and this decision is not normal.
“he described the results of this referendum as a victory, saying: 16 / April is a victory for Turkey as a whole.
He added: “vote on the constitutional amendments is the success of democracy, especially since all the executive and legislative authorities are working to serve the people.” He also stressed that the Turkish people voted with their own free will on the constitutional amendments.
He added that the Turkish people again showed great awareness and exceptional when they went to the polls and cast vote with their own free will. “He said:” We want friendly and allied countries to respect the will of the Turkish people.
” Furthermore, he explained that the amended constitutional articles concerning the president of the republic begin to be activated after the 2019 elections.
It should be noted that the most prominent Turkish leaders, including the president, “Erdogan,” and Foreign Minister “Jawish Ihsanoglu,” the former leader of the Republican People’s Party “Dmaz Baykal,” they had described the referendum as the most important in the history of the Turkish Republic.
Supporters say amendments will bring stability to the country and promote economic growth, while opponents believe that this step will lead to the erosion of checks and balances by limiting the role of the parliament and the “politicization” of the judiciary, and will focus a lot of power in the hands of the president.
The opinion of Supporters and opponents could be denied or be confirmed by the policies of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next stage.
The constitutional amendments include 18 amendments related to the regime shift in Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential, and highlights of the amendments: the abolition of the Council of Ministers, the inauguration of President the executive and the command of the army, and is entitled to appoint his deputies and his ministers and dismiss them , and if the vice president is a member of parliament , his membership will be dropped from the parliament, and amendments do not allow the parliament to withdraw confidence from the Council of Ministers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing, who has gained the support of part of the Turks and raises hatred of the other part, a constitutional referendum, a political test of his party and popularity, and reveals the extent of his ability and its limits, to consolidate his power finally after nine months of surviving from a coup attempt. The following are the articles of a new constitution in Turkey, which provides for the transition from a parliamentary system to a presidential:
Article 1
The first article of the new Constitution provides for the addition of the word “impartiality” on the words “independence of the judiciary”, in order to make the judiciary independent and impartial. The judiciary is required to act on condition of impartiality.
Article 2
And it provides for the raise of the number of seats in Parliament from 550 to 600.
Article 3
And it provides for the reduction of the age to run for the parliamentary elections from 25 to 18.
Article 4
And it provides for the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections every five years, and in the same day.
Article 5
It provides for the abolition of the so-called requirement of confidence because of the nature of the presidential system where the president gets confidence directly from the people.
This means that the President gets the confidence directly from the people, and this confidence will be given to the government that will be formed automatically.
Article 6
And it provides for the activation of parliamentary control through a system of written questions, and makes the parliamentary inquiry into the members of the Government and the President of the Republic more inclusive, and to answer written questions within a period not exceeding 15 days and also through a written statement.
Article 7
Article VII of the new Constitution specifies conditions of a candidate for the presidency of the Republic which are summarized by the following:
- A candidate for the presidency to be of the age of 40 years and older, he holds a high academic certificate, to be a citizen of Turkey.
- The presidential term of 5 years, and the president has no right to run for more than two terms respectively.
- The membership of the elected president is ended by the people in the Turkish parliament immediately after his victory in the elections.
Article 8
Article VIII defines the powers of the President of the Republic of Turkey in accordance with the new Constitution, which are summarized as follows:
- The president is the head of state, and the owner of the executive power in the country, and represents as the President of the Republic the unity of the Turkish people and the Republic.
- President has the authority to appoint his deputies, ministers and termination of their duties when necessary.
- The President has the authority to appoint the administrators of the State and to end their duties and withholding confidence from them.
- President provides visions to the Turkish Parliament in terms of domestic and foreign policy.
- Publishes the Laws.
- Propose laws for changing the Constitution when necessary for the people.
- Supervises the performance of the oath of deputies.
- He is the decision maker to use the Turkish armed forces when necessary.
- The President has the authority to cancel or mitigate penalties for prisoners who have chronic medical conditions or aging.
- The President has the authority to issue decrees with respect to the executive authority of the president.
- the president is not entitled through presidential decrees to make adjustments with respect to Part II of the Constitution on public rights, and the rights of individuals, and with respect to Part IV of the Constitution on the Political Rights.
- Presidential decrees can not be issued with regard to special topics related to the amendments to the Constitution.
Article 9
Criminal responsibility of the President
Parliament will be able to get through an absolute majority of the votes of the House of Representatives; the proposal requires an investigation against the President of the Republic in the event of a criminal charge against him.
Parliament will discuss the proposal during a period which is not exceeding a month, and by getting two-thirds of the votes of parliament, an investigation can be opened on it.
The accused President is not entitled to issue the decision to go to early elections.
In the case of the trueness of the charge against the President, the Office of the Council of Parliament has the right to terminate the functions of the elect President.
Article 10
President of the Republic is to form a government, and is entitled to appoint one or more deputy to him.
In the event of a vacuum for some reason in the presidency, the choice of a new president is done within a period of 45 days. A vacuum of the president is filled during the period mentioned by one of the Vice President until the election of the new president.
Vice-Presidents and ministers are accountable to the President, and in the event of charges, investigations can be opened against them, in addition to the possibility of referral to the judiciary.
Article 11
The Turkish parliament has the right to get through the two-thirds votes of parliament to re-presidential and parliamentary elections, and thus the general elections to the parliament and presidential elections will be held with each other.
In the event of taking a decision for the new re-presidential election, the president has the right to nominate himself again for a new term, as in the case of a decision to hold new elections, the Turkish parliament and the elect president continue in their assignments until the selection of new parliament members and the new president.
Article 12
President shall have the right to declare a state of emergency for a period not exceeding 6 months, in a particular region or in the whole of Turkey, in the following cases: “The war, the reasons of a war ,alert, try to do demonstrations with force against the Republic or home, external threats that target people and the state, in the event of a threat to the freedoms or constitutional order, in addition to natural disasters, or the presence of communicable diseases, in addition to economic crises. And a state of emergency is presented to the Turkish parliament after published in the Official Gazette. Also it has the right to extend or reduce the duration.
Article 13
Article No. 13 provides on the abolition of military courts completely, and only allow the establishment of disciplinary courts. In the event of war allows the establishment of exceptionally special military courts for the military soldiers who are facing charges.
Article 14
Delete the word supreme from the words “the Supreme Council for the judges and prosecutors,” and make changes, including:
The Council consists of 13 members, four of whom are appointed by the president and 7 by the Parliament, and the appointment of the Minister of Justice the Chairman of the Board.
Article 15
President of the Republic is working on the proposal of the budget law, and then presented to the Turkish parliament.
The power to propose laws to parliament by the president is limited on the budget law only, as the law is being discussed in the Turkish Parliament, to enter into the framework of the resolution.
In the absence of parliamentary approval of the budget law, it is working on a temporary budget for the government to be able to conduct its work, and in the event of not being able also to do this, the previous budget law is evaluated , and the addition of the new percentages on it, and then enter it in progress.
Article 16
It reads as follows:
The abolition of the Commission presidency.
Only the House of Representatives have the authority to propose laws.
Annexation of the armed forces to the structure of the oversight Committee for the state.
Presidency of the Republic refers decrees to the Constitutional Court in order to scrutiny.
Ending the so-called martial law.
Article 17
And provides for the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections on 3/11/2019 and until the date mentioned the elected president and members of parliament continue in their duties.
In the case of getting the acceptance by the people in the electoral vote, the parliament is carrying out within 6 months of necessary legal amendments, and to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and then presented to the President.
Members of prosecutors and judges Council are elected within a period not exceeding 30 days, and after the fortieth day, they are entitled to start their duties.
Article 18
The abolition of the law that provides to cut off the link of the president to the party on which he belongs after his election.
And by these constitutional amendments , Turkey will move from the parliamentary system to a presidential, and it is expected that the result of the referendum to be a turning point on the internal and external level of Turkey, At the domestic level, Turkey has become in need of a new constitution to establish the principles of liberal democracy in Turkey, Turkey after the approval of the Turkish people on the constitutional amendments is no longer in line with the Kamali robe , whether soft or hard, modern or traditional.
The new constitution will also work to solve the Kurdish issue, where it is impossible to solve it within the framework of the Kamali Constitution, which depicts the nation as a homogeneous and deny the existence of the Kurdish people. The new Constitution in modern Turkey will overcome this unrealistic point of view, which believes that the Turkish society is a homogeneous nation.
On the external level, thanks to the constitutional amendments that gave the President of Recep Tayyip Erdogan the wide powers that they are like the powers of the Ottoman Sultan, noting that the Turkish President when he was prime minister of Turkey , has already developed his country through the economic gate, he is a man of economic miracles and reforms that have freed the religious conservative majority in the country from the dominance of the secular elite. And he may work through the political gate in the development of Arab-Iranian relations, particularly in the Gulf to achieve public benefit to the Middle East; Turkey of the Sultan Erdogan may be a strong bridge that connects Iran with the Arab Gulf States.
Muammar Faisal Kholi
Translated by: Mudhaffar al-Kusairi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies