AKP to hold October workshop on new charter draft

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will convene a workshop in October as part of its efforts to draft a new constitution, deputy leader Hayati Yazıcı told state-run Anadolu Agency on Aug. 19.

The workshop will involve experts and academics specializing in law, public administration, political science and sociology, with the aim of gathering diverse opinions.

"We will turn [the issues discussed] into a report and present it to the authorized bodies of our party," Yazıcı said, adding that communication with other political parties will also be pursued.

"If a consensus is reached by sharing it with them, we want this process to progress and for Türkiye to achieve this."

Yazıcı said drafting a new constitution is "not a desire, but a necessity," citing inconsistencies and gaps in the current charter.

He revealed that a draft of the new constitution has been in the works since the COVID pandemic's onset, prepared by a committee led by lawyer Yavuz Atar, a chief adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"The work is ready; it is on the sidelines," Yazıcı said.

The current constitution has long been criticized by the AKP for its origins in the 1980 military coup.

Its long-pending proposal for a "new and civilian" text lacks the necessary parliamentary majority to advance. To move the process to a referendum, the AKP requires support from over 30 MPs from opposition parties.

Since early May, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has been holding discussions with representatives of opposition parties regarding the new constitutional proposal.

Initial talks included main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel, Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, İYİ (Good) Party's head Müsavat Dervişoğlu and a delegate from the Felicity Party (SP).

Kurtulmuş continued discussions with Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the AKP's ruling alliance partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and later met with AKP officials on May 16.

In June, he began meeting with leaders of smaller parties that lack a parliamentary group, including the Free Cause Party (HÜDA PAR), the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the New Welfare Party (YRP), the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) and the Labor Party (EMEP).

In Türkiye, a party must have at least 20 MPs to establish a parliamentary group.

Yazıcı said that even if a new constitution is approved by parliament, it must be ratified by the public in a referendum.

"If you are making a constitution from beginning to end, it must definitely pass the approval of the great nation that has the right to make a constitution," he remarked.

"Otherwise, it will be incomplete. Such a constitution will be extremely inadequate in terms of fulfilling the desired constitutional function."