CHP leader calls on parliament for savings

ANKARA

Özgür Özel, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has called on Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş to initiate a circular regarding savings of parliamentary expenses, following the government’s austerity measures.

In his weekly address to his parliamentary group on May 14, Özel elaborated on the government’s announced austerity package that aims to curb public spending in the next three years.

“It is positive to see that the presidency has not been exempted. The parliament is not included there in respect to the independence of the parliament. So, I call on the parliament speaker and other political parties to create our own package for savings,” Özel said.

“It is not appropriate for the lawmakers to be excluded from austerity while the people are implementing it. We, therefore, should take our own measures to this end,” he underlined.

Özel also informed that the CHP-led municipalities have already started to curb spending through a circular issued by the party’s headquarters.

The CHP chairman has also expressed his views about the government’s ongoing work to change the educational curriculum, claiming that the changes will further erode secular and science-based education.

“I, therefore, call on everyone who has something to say about education and the teachers who have not been appointed by the state to a rally we will hold on May 18 in Istanbul,” he said.