Why is Erdoğan delaying making the new gov't system?
Turkey held parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24 which resulted in a victory for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who gathered 52 percent of the votes in the first round. He announced his cabinet on July 9, marking the launch of the presidential governance model that replaced the 95-year-old parliamentary system.
The system, which has abolished the office of the prime minister, designated the president as the sole executive power with the right to issue decrees almost on every issue except for fundamental rights and so on. Erdoğan decreased the number of ministries from 26 to 16, but at the same announced the formation of around a dozen various government bodies under the new presidential governance system.
According to the new system, Erdoğan will lead the government as the president and has one vice president to replace him when he is abroad. The government is composed of 16 ministers, who have all been
appointed.
What complicates the new system is the fact it also includes eight directorates, nine councils and four offices which will directly serve under the president. Six out of eight directorates already existed in the previous governance system but under different names: National Intelligence Organization (MİT), General Staff, State Audit Board, National Security Council, Defense Industry Directorate, and the Religious Affairs Directorate. Two new directorates created under the new system are the Communication Directorate and the Strategy and Budget Directorate.
Former Finance Minister Naci Ağbal has been appointed as the strategy and budget director, while Professor Fahrettin Altun as the head of the Communication Directorate.
Out of four offices, Erdoğan appointed only two: Human Resources and Investment. That shows that the president is yet to announce the creation of nine agencies and two offices. Apart from the technology office and finance office, the president is yet to announce the creation of the following councils: Social Policies Council; Law Policies Council; Security and Foreign Policies Council; Local Governments Councils; Health and Food Council; Economy Council; Education Council; Culture and Art Council and Science-Technology-Innovation Council.
In a statement in early August, Erdoğan had said the accomplishment of the new system would take another 10 or 15 days and afterwards he would be ready to announce them. There is an obvious delay in this process and there is no fresh statement on when it could be concluded.
There could be a number of reasons for this delay. One of them is the ongoing economic crisis that brought about an additional workload on the government. In addition, the tension with the United States that triggered sanctions against the Turkish government over the detention of pastor Andrew Brunson is still there. The increasingly busy foreign agenda of Erdoğan over Idlib and long trips abroad could also be cited as excuses. Erdoğan, as the sole decision-maker, has obviously been too busy in the last three months.
Second could be that those who have shaped this new governance model are still set to figure out how these new councils will be tied to the ministries and on what grounds the division of labor will be provided. They should also find out the right people to appoint to the right places and establish a code of conduct.
Third could be a power struggle between senior government officials, ministers and so on. There are talks about a suspended bureaucratic reshuffle within the state system and many of these appointments will take place in accordance with the accomplishment of the new system.
It seems it will take some more time before Erdoğan is able to accomplish and fully announce the components of the new system.
