Three from our group betrayed us: Turkish Prime Minister

DENİZLİ - Doğan News Agency

Erdoğan was delivering a speech at Pamukkale University, where he was given an honorary PhD. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reproached three Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies for voting against a law banning the closure of political parties.

“One of the 26 articles of the Constitution amendment package was an abolishment of party dissolutions. It was very interesting; the whole opposition disappeared to my left. Three people from our group betrayed us. We couldn’t attain 330 [votes which was needed to directly adopt the changes],” Erdoğan said during a speech at Pamukkale University, where he was given an honorary PhD.

In 2010, the government introduced a 26-article package, all articles of which were voted on in Parliament. Each article required more than 330 votes in order to be presented to the electorate in a referendum.

But the amendment for Article 69, which would have limited the ability of the Supreme Court to dissolve political parties, did not meet the threshold, receiving only 327 votes in the second round, thereby resulting in it being dropped from the package.

Noting his strong opposition to the dissolution of institutions chosen by the people, the prime minister slammed the deputies who voted against the amendment that have would put an end to one of the most controversial regulations in Turkish politics.

“I’ve always said. It’s never right to punish legal entities. The real person should be punished, judge the one who has committed the crime. If it’s a chairman, judge the chairman, if it’s a deputy, then judge him. Can there be something like punishing cars?” Erdoğan said.

Commenting on the overall Constitution-drafting process, the prime minister also accused opposition parties of acting inconsistently and erecting barriers hampering the smooth procession of the decision-making process.