The resignation problem in municipalities

First and foremost, the national will must abide by the law. Law and order is above national will and justice.

That is why it is mandatory for elections to be lawful.

Because the law is above the national will of the people, articles passed by the general assembly as well as the regulations the president will place in the new system have to abide by the constitution.

State of emergency decrees also have to abide by the constitution.

We must also consider mayoral issues in the light of law and order.

A complexity

Melih Gökçek, the long-time Ankara mayor, is set to resign. However, he has not announced his resignation for days.

It is said that he plans to announce his plans for Ankara first and then resign. If he’s going to do it this way, this may even be considered a reaction.

“As there is goodbye, there is also truth. The final say belongs to the will of the külliye,” Balıkesir Mayor Edip Uğur said.

The “will of the külliye” has been interpreted by some as the will of the palace in Beştepe where the president lives. However, in Islam, “the will of the külliye” means “God’s will.”

Upon his return from Sarajevo, Bursa Mayor Recep Altepe said “we are on duty.”

It is clear they did not want to leave and the people who have resigned did not do so on their own free will.

It was said that “those who do not resign will pay a heavy price” anyway. The Interior Ministry had immediately added: “From now on, opposition municipalities as well as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) municipalities will see how relentless we are.”

Legal security

If investigations of corruption will be revealed, why did they wait until now?

Will the obedient municipalities also be subjected to the declared relentlessness?

If we are entering such a mindful phase regarding corruption now, will the “package for transparency and against corruption” prepared by former Foreign Ministers Ali Babacan and Ahmet Davutoğlu be on the table?

Or, is the purpose of this “relentlessness” to push for the resignations?

In a state of law, can the application of laws be bound to a party’s election agenda?

How can the sense of “legal security” form in a society?

How can the mayors and voters be certain of “legal security” from now on?

For the benefit of the country’s future, these remarkably grave problems should seriously be thought about.

Honor as a human value

Justifiably, some mayors have complained about maintaining their “honor and pride” when asked for their resignations without being shown any legal grounds.

Yes, isn’t man “a creature of honor”?

And aren’t the virtues of “pride, honor and glory” part of the universal law’s high merits?

One should not leave the usual paths towards a destination. What is the usual path here is for an investigation to be opened into those who are responsible for the crimes they have committed. What is appropriate is that the press is free.

What matters is whether or not the public votes in elections.

This should also be the case for mayors.

Alia Izetbegović

The situation goes beyond party politics and some mayors and has to do with the principles of a democratic, lawful state.

More so, it is about personal philosophies.

Bursa Mayor Recep Altepe had just gotten back from Sarajevo, where he had gone to attend a commemoration ceremony for the late Alia Izetbegović.

That is why I’m completing my column with the lines by Izetbegović—one of the greatest Islamic minds of the 20th century:

“I would add ‘critical thinking’ courses to the curriculum in Eastern classrooms, if I could. Unlike the West, the East has not learned this painful lesson and that is the reason for many of its weaknesses.”