Main opposition pulls motion of censure against Turkish PM

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The CHP had submitted the motion over the privatization of BAŞKENTGAZ. AP photo

Parliament’s General Assembly was yesterday set to debate a motion of censure against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan submitted by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), but the motion was subsequently withdrawn. The CHP had submitted the motion over the privatization of Başkent Doğalgaz (BAŞKENTGAZ), the natural gas provider for Ankara, claiming that Erdoğan had led both the people and the public authority to suffer damage by approving the tender.

Thanks to a majority vote of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the debate on the censure motion was scheduled to take place yesterday, a day on which the Parliament’s live television Meclis TV was not broadcasting, CHP Ankara Deputy Levent Gök said in a written statement.

All citizens should learn how the country’s resources have been made available by the government for their supporter companies, all phases of the privatization of BAŞKENTGAZ and the damage it resulted against the public, Gök added.

No exact time

“We have withdrawn our censure motion in order to discuss all these at a session where the prime minister is present and to allow all of our citizens to watch it on television,” he said. Without specifying the exact time, he noted that the motion would be introduced again.

Meanwhile, Parliament’s General Assembly was set to debate on the same day an inquiry proposal about Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, which was also submitted by the CHP.