MPs’ perks draft put on shelf
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
The government intends to withhold a controversial bill bringing significant advantages to deputies following negative reactions from the public.The inclination to put the bill on hold, at least for a while, emerged at a Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) held on May 13 under the presidency of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The government does not plan to step back, but will not put the bill on the agenda a time when the tension has risen over the Reyhanlı attack. There could be some changes to some provisions of the text which were highly criticized by members of the public, such as providing diplomatic passports for spouses and children of the retired lawmakers. The much-debated bill grants lawmakers benefits regarding passports, ID cards, health and funeral expenses, social facilities, travel expenses, protocol line-ups and traffic immunity and priority.
