‘Presidential’ referral blocks deal on charter

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

According to the current Constitution, the deputyship of any lawmaker who is sentenced to longer than one year in prison is annulled after the final appeal.

The presidential system proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) indirectly blocked the drafting of yet another article on oath-taking during debates at Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission.

Since the AKP’s proposal on oath-taking mentioned “the oath-taking of the president,” the ruling Republican People’s Party (CHP) objected to it and no agreement could be reached Jan.8.
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supported the CHP’s objection, causing the AKP to decide to take the issue to the related bodies of the party.

The commission also debated the article covering “annulment of deputyship” and provided full agreement on it. The four parties agreed that the deputyship of lawmakers convicted of crimes which are not obstacles of election eligibility will not be annulled.

According to the current Constitution, the deputyship of any lawmaker who is sentenced to longer than one year in prison — no matter what the crime is — is annulled after the related ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals is read out at Parliament’s General Assembly.

According to the new arrangement, if the deputyship is annulled or the immunity of a deputy is lifted, the deputy subject to the decision or another deputy will be able to appeal to the Constitutional Court for an annulment of the decision within seven days after it is approved in Parliament. The top court will have to make a decision on the appeal within 15 days.

The AKP, meanwhile, finalized its preparation for debates concerning “the administration” section of the new constitution. The AKP’s draft is based on their own presidential system proposal, which was introduced earlier in the drafting process.

Accordingly, the AKP proposes that the General Staff should report to the president instead of the prime minister, as it is the case under the current Constitution.

If the new constitution is eventually drafted in line with the parliamentary system, then the AKP will propose that the General Staff report to the Defense Ministry.