Ruling AKP surprisingly supports CHP proposal on Labor Law

ANKARA

Labor Minister Faruk Çelik speaks during a session at Parliament with Energy Minister Taner Çelik sitting in the back. Only 78 lawmakers participated to a session on the Soma disaster on May 21. DHA Photo

In an exceptional move, lawmakers from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have lent support to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) concerning a proposal on the Labor Law.

The move on May 20 came in the aftermath of the May 13 coal mine disaster in the Soma mine in the western Anatolian province of Manisa that killed 301 miners.

CHP Kocaeli deputy Haydar Akar drafted a proposal to amend the Labor Law in order to delegalize the employment of subcontractor workers, an issue at the heart of the nation-wide debate following the Soma disaster.

During the May 20 General Assembly session, Akar asked the parliamentary Speaker’s Office to directly have a proposal on the General Assembly agenda, meaning a commission-level procedure regarding the proposal should be finalized at the latest within 45 days.

Akar’s request to directly have the proposal on the General Assembly agenda was eventually approved with the support from the AKP lawmakers, who hold the majority at Parliament.

“The reason for such support from the AKP is solely about their feelings of embarrassment due the motion they rejected at the time,” an executive from the CHP told Hürriyet Daily News on May 21, referring to the motion submitted by CHP Manisa Deputy Özgür Özel with the support of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputies on Oct. 23, 2013.

The motion was rejected on April 29 with votes from the ruling AKP.

“Under today’s conditions, they didn’t want to reject it and relive the same embarrassment again. However they will still delay the procedure at the General Assembly,” the same CHP executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, added. “In the past, the AKP lent support to the CHP’s proposals on less vital issues. So, this was not a first.”

According to data recently released by the parliamentary Speaker’s Office, through June 28, 2011 and October 22, 2013, 94 of the AKP’s motions were approved, while 14 of the CHP’s motions were approved.