Turkish opposition agree to work on ‘strengthening parliamentary system’

ANKARA

Opposition alliance agreed to intensify talks to prepare a roadmap for the post-election period in order to ensure “a strong parliamentary system,” main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and İYİ (Good) Party leaders stated after a meeting.

“The electorate is expecting us to build a strengthened parliamentary system, in which democracy is fully implemented and parliament is strong,” said İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener, after visiting CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu at the CHP headquarters on June 4.

Her visit came on May 31 as she had called out on opposition parties to work on a road-map for future works of “the Nation Alliance” of the CHP, İYİ Party, Felicity Party (SP) and Democrat Party (DP) after the June 24 parliamentary and presidential elections.

Akşener stated in a joint press conference after visiting Kılıçdaroğlu that she had proposed to form a commission to work intensively in the following week to prepare a road-map for the “parliamentary democracy.”

“We have proposed our friends to meet and make an assessment on how the parliamentary system will be reinstated, and in which time period it will be done after we have the majority in parliament,” Akşener said.

She added that the CHP had agreed to the proposal and that she had also spoken with SP leader Temel Karamollaoğlu and DP leader Gültekin Uysal.

Kılıçdaroğlu said the main opposition appreciated Akşener’s effort to build a commission on this mission.

“We will do whatever is necessary for this proposal. Together, we will think about how to re-build the democratic parliamentary system, how to strengthen the parliament, how to ensure the independence of the judiciary and lawmakers, and to strip the judicial system of the coup law,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

A commission with three representatives from four parties will be formed before the June 24 elections. The work is planned to finish within a week.

The opposition parties in the alliance are against the constitutional amendment, which was approved in the 2017 referendum bringing a new executive system, which grants sweeping authorities to the president-elect.

Arguing that the amendment will harm the principle of separation of powers between the judiciary, execution and legislation. The opposition pledges “to strengthen the parliamentary system” in the future parliament in the event that the Nation Alliance gains the majority.