Main opposition CHP questions new Turkish interior minister’s immunity

ANKARA

Efkan Ala (R) replaced Muammer Güler as the Interior Minister in the latest cabinet reshuffle. Ala is the only minister outside the Turkish Parliament. AA photo

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has raised questions over the legal appropriateness of actions and appointments by Interior Minister Efkan Ala since he will not gain immunity at least until Jan. 2.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey reshuffled his Cabinet on Dec. 25 after three key ministers resigned over a sweeping corruption and bribery scandal that has targeted his allies and rattled his government.

Ala, the former undersecretary of the Prime Ministry and the only new minister among all 10 replacements who is not a member of Parliament, took over his new post as the interior minister on Dec. 26. In a written motion submitted on Dec. 27, CHP Deputy Chair Umut Oran asked Erdoğan whether “actions and operations along with appointments that he made and he will make until Jan. 2 are not controversial,” and whether those actions and operations “will be counted within the framework of immunity.”

“Will prosecutors be able to draft indictments about him [Erdoğan] by acting in their official capacity in case of establishing that Efkan Ala’s actions and operations between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 constitute a violation of laws?” Oran asked.