President can annul parliament, main opposition leader says

ISTANBUL

The president will be able to annul the parliament if the referendum results prevail a “yes” vote, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said, amid debates over whether the charter change could hand enhanced powers to the president to abolish the parliament, Doğan News Agency has reported.

“There is an ongoing debate nowadays. We are giving authority to one man. The president can have the power to annul the parliament. They say that the president has no such right. However, the president does have the right. This right is also ingrained in the constitution that we are using today. Let’s say an election was conducted but no government was formed. If a government cannot be formed in 45 days, the president can say he will annul the parliament,” Kılıçdaroğlu said at a meeting with village heads in Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü district.

He remarked that the system can facilitate double-headedness, saying that the president will not remain indifferent with the new system.

“We should ask ourselves this question before we go to vote, ‘Should a president be biased or unbiased?’ If a president is impartial, he can represent 80 million people. But if he is the leader of a political party, he cannot represent the 80 million people. He can only represent the people who voted for him,” he added.      

He also stated that deputy prime ministers and ministers cannot be lawmakers with the new system, adding that they would not be held culpable legally.

“If the president appoints a lawmaker as a minister, they can be forced to resign from duty. If you say they should be held accountable even if they are ministers, then you should vote ‘no,’” he said.