CHP leader praises women, hails parliamentary system after AKP withdraws abuse bill
ANKARA
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has derided the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), saying the latter had made such a mistake with a contentious child abuse bill that it was “beaten up by women for four days and knocked out.” Speaking during his party’s Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting on Nov. 23, the CHP leader also attributed the AKP’s backpedaling on the controversial motion to the parliamentary system in Turkey, arguing that if the country had been ruled by a presidential system, “the draft would have passed with a presidential decree,” according to daily Cumhuriyet.
“They say the president solved the problem. The one who solved the problem is not the president but the parliament established by [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk and our women who take their power from that,” said Kılıçdaroğlu, adding that he believed the motion was introduced “upon the demand of the president.”
“It cannot be thought that the Palace did not have any idea about this,” said Kılıçdaroğlu.
Parliament’s Justice Commission on Nov. 23 withdrew the bill that would have deferred legal sentences against child abusers if assailants married their victims following an offense.
Introduced to the general assembly and passed after initial voting, the bill provoked fury across the country, prompting the government and AKP legislators to step back from the proposal, which, they claimed, was aimed at alleviating the already existing problems of “around 3,000” people that were born in illegal marriages.
“The regulation we put forward did not actually include a single rapist but it was misunderstood. We also could not explain it well. We are withdrawing this regulation due to the public reaction,” Bozdağ said, before he announced that the motion was being totally abolished.
“They say the president solved the problem. The one who solved the problem is not the president but the parliament established by [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk and our women who take their power from that,” said Kılıçdaroğlu, adding that he believed the motion was introduced “upon the demand of the president.”
“It cannot be thought that the Palace did not have any idea about this,” said Kılıçdaroğlu.
Parliament’s Justice Commission on Nov. 23 withdrew the bill that would have deferred legal sentences against child abusers if assailants married their victims following an offense.
Introduced to the general assembly and passed after initial voting, the bill provoked fury across the country, prompting the government and AKP legislators to step back from the proposal, which, they claimed, was aimed at alleviating the already existing problems of “around 3,000” people that were born in illegal marriages.
“The regulation we put forward did not actually include a single rapist but it was misunderstood. We also could not explain it well. We are withdrawing this regulation due to the public reaction,” Bozdağ said, before he announced that the motion was being totally abolished.
