Kılıçdaroğlu says next parliament will reverse government system

ANKARA

The next parliament to be established in May 14 polls will reverse Türkiye’s government model back to the parliamentary system, the opposition’s joint president candidate has said, arguing even the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will support the change.

“Those who support returning to the strengthened parliamentary system will be in majority at the parliament. The AK Party deputies will also endorse this because they have seen that their right to make politics have been taken from them [because of the existing executive-presidential system],” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the joint presidential candidate of Nation Alliance said in a televised interview late on April 26.

“They perhaps cannot voice this openly,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, citing private conversations with the deputies of the ruling party.

The oppositional Nation Alliance, whose candidate is Kılıçdaroğlu for the presidency, has long ago underlined that its main objective is to return to the parliamentary system as the current presidential model did not work well for Türkiye. The country is governed with the executive-presidential model under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since 2018.

The opposition alliance needs at least 360 seats at the parliament to take a constitutional amendment to referendum. It needs 400 seats to legislate it without going to a public vote.

On a question, Kılıçdaroğlu expressed his confidence that the six-party oppositional alliance will gain the required majority in the parliament.

“We will introduce the culture of compromise between the political parties. We will surely consult with the civil society during our legislative works. All the regulations will first be discussed at the Economic and Social Council,” he said.

“We will bring the real democracy to Türkiye,” he added, “We are talking about a completely different Türkiye.”