November 04, 2015•Update: November 06, 2015
ANKARA
Turkey’s presidential spokesman has said that a possible change to the country’s system of governance may come through a referendum.
Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday that the discussion about ushering in a presidential system in Turkey would not be held without including the people.
“If its mechanism is a referendum, then a referendum will be held,” he said.
Kalin said that some arrangements about the presidential system could also be done through the Turkish parliament, but he underlined that this issue would be “concluded in discussions and after consultations with our nation, by taking their views and convictions”.
Kalin said that this issue was not related to any person. It is not “a calculation related to the president’s own future” because “he does not have such a concern,” Kalin said.
“President Erdogan does not need such a thing,” he insisted.
Kalin said that the question is how to make Turkey’s ruling system more functional and how to overcome obstacles to reaching the 2023 goals, one of which is to bring Turkey among the world’s top 10 economies.
“The president’s attitude regarding this issue is clear,” Kalin said, adding that they [the president and others] think that the changed system would take Turkey to a new level by participating in a group of developed countries with powerful presidents.
He said that all parties, civil society organizations, opinion leaders should trade views on that issue. “My guess is that this discussion will gain momentum in the coming months and years and will continue in a more healthy way,” Kalin said.
The discussions about the presidential system have been on hold in Turkey since June when the Justice and Development (AK) Party lost the majority needed to govern Turkey in its own.
The results of Nov. 1 early general election in which the AK Party won 317 seats in the 550-member Turkish parliament brought the issue back into agenda.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in his post-election victory speech Sunday night that the AK Party would pursue constitutional changes to enhance the role of the president.
“It is obvious that the current system does not meet Turkey’s needs. This shirt is too tight for this country,” Davutoglu said.
The AK Party has sought to turn Turkey from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential system since the party co-founder and former prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, became president on August 10, 2014.
Although it regained its parliamentary majority in Sunday’s election, AK Party appears to be 13 seats short of the number (330) needed to push through a referendum on constitutional reform.
