MHP calls on opposition to endorse efforts for new charter

ANKARA

Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has called on the opposition parties to support the efforts for writing a brand-new civilian and democratic constitution in the new legislative year.

“This will be a test of sincerity for the opposition,” Bahçeli said in his address to his parliamentary group on June 13. It was his first appearance at the MHP parliamentary group after the May polls. Bahçeli is President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s closest ally at the People Alliance.

Erdoğan, immediately after the elections, reiterated his calls for a new civilian constitution in a bid to get rid of the current charter whose backbone was written by the coup plotters after the 1980 military coup. The People Alliance has 322 seats at the Parliament. It needs around 40 additional votes to take a constitutional amendment to referendum.

“We, as the MHP, are ready to do whatever is necessary for an inclusive, democratic and civilian constitution in line with the demands of our people,” Bahçeli stated, recalling that his party had already drafted a 100-article constitution to be discussed by the people. He said the new constitution will have to uphold the spirit of the new government system of Türkiye, namely the executive-presidential system.

He also stressed that the MHP’s drafted constitution follows the basic principles created by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye.

In other remarks, Bahçeli recalled that Türkiye will go to local elections in 2024 and called on his lawmakers to continue to work for another victory next year. “Are you ready for the polls to take place on March 31, 2024?” asked Bahçeli.