Turkey's parliamentary speaker urges for new charter in legislative year

ANKARA

Cemil Çiçek speaks at the Turkish Parliament on Sept. 29. AA Photo

Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek has once more stressed the need to boost efforts for a new Constitution, which has been on a standstill since 2013.

The current problems that Turkey faces are related to the Constitution and the necessity for a new charter would be much higher on the agenda in the June elections in 2015, Çiçek told reporters on Sept. 29 at a meeting to evaluate the legislative year, which will commence Oct. 1.

Unless a new charter is written, a solid democratic life would be difficult to build in Turkey due to the “decay in the spine of political law,” he said.

Writing a new Constitution cannot be delayed, he said, expressing hope to resolve the issue in Parliament’s new legislative term.

The law for political parties should also be amended, according to the parliamentary speaker.
The four political parties in the Constitutional Reconciliation Commission only managed to reach a consensus on 30 articles out of the total 125 over the course of 17 months of work.

The Commission began its work in May 2012 with three deputies from each of the elected parliamentary parties of the time: the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to write a new Constitution.

The commission’s term of duty has been extended several times, as political parties were prolonging the drafting process and considering the possible outcome of leaving the table.