MPs act as if Turkey's Parliament is a night club: Speaker

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

‘Parliament is not a place for vulgarity or for demonstrations,’ Çiçek says. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek expressed unease over lawmakers’ behavior, saying Parliament should not be turned into a “night club.”

Çiçek addressed reporters at a year-end review press conference yesterday.

He warned against deputies’ use of obscenities. “Parliament is not a place for vulgarity. Parliament is not a place for demonstrations either.” Criticizing the format of the political parties’ weekly group meetings, Çiçek said if those gatherings continued with the current composition, they would create problems.

Political parties’ group meetings in the Parliament have turned into “broad participation press conferences,” and even some behaviors such as chanting slogans and jeering have turned Parliament into a “night club,” he added.

The Turkish parliamentary speaker also passed the buck to political parties about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s proposal to partially ratify 48 clauses on which the Constitution Conciliation Commission agreed for a new charter. Commission will resume its work after July 29, and it will be up to political parties to make either a partial or comprehensive constitutional change, Çiçek told reporters. However, the speaker also hinted that 17 partial Constitution amendments in history have “damaged the balance and integrity” of the Constitution. He also said politicians’ statements make the new charter-writing process more difficult.