Fast legislation should not compromise quality: Turkey’s top business group
ISTANBUL
“Pluralism and participation in the legislative process also contributes to the quality of laws,” said Başaran-Symes, also criticizing the controversial practice of “omnibus laws” in Turkey, in which many disparate legal changes are voted on in a single package.
“It is crucial for parliament to function well and legislate fast. However, it is not preferable to compromise the quality of the legislative process,” she said at the Decision-Making Processes in the Public Sector Conference on June 6, organized jointly by TÜSİAD and the Argüden Governance Academy. The conference focused on the recently released OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2015 Report.
If an important part of society cannot find a place in the decision-making process, concerns rise about the erosion of democratic values in many countries, including those with a long tradition of democracy, Başaran-Symes also added.
The TÜSİAD head said the practice of omnibus lawmaking, often favored by the Turkish government, was a bad habit and discouraged monitoring due to several articles that are added during pre-vote discussions in parliamentary commissions.
Turkey needs mechanisms where citizens can provide their contribution at the highest level in the public sector, she stressed.
“Good governance increases the quality of life and citizens’ happiness. Participatory decision-making process, evidence-based policymaking, and ex-ante as well as ex-post evaluations are crucial for increasing the quality of regulatory policy in the public sector,” said Argüden Governance Academy Chairman Metin Çakmakçı.
To increase governance quality, OECD countries place particular importance on the stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessments, according to Nick Malyshev, the head OECD Regulatory Policy Division.
“Turkey ranked 30 and 32 out of 34 OECD Countries, on conducting ex-ante and ex-post regulatory impact analyses,” said Malyshev who is also the Advisory Council Member of Argüden Governance Academy.
“The OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2105 Report is a very important step in the right direction to identify how governments can improve their decision-making process. However, in these assessments in addition to the views of regulators, the views of stakeholders affected by regulations and the views of those subject to the implementation of the regulations also need to be considered,” said Professor Ersin Kalaycıoğlu, speaking at the conference moderated by Yılmaz Argüden, the founder of the Argüden Governance Academy.