Turkey’s GDP to rise to $25,000 under presidential system: Erdoğan

ANKARA

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Turkey’s current $11,000 GDP per capita will rise to $25,000 by 2023 if the country swiftly adopts the presidential system, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, claiming the development pace of the country has slowed down because of the plurivocality in the administrative system.

“There is a need of a new constitution and a presidential system in the new Turkey. When we adopt the presidential system, most of the things you witness in the parliament won’t happen. Plurivocality [in the government] will end,” Erdoğan said to his address to a federation established by stallholders in Ankara. 

Recalling the GDP per capita was $3,400 in 2002 when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Turkey and this figure rose to $11,000 under the AKP government, Erdoğan complained it can no longer increase because of the obstacles erupting from the current parliamentary system. “Ten countries of the G-20 are being ruled by the presidential system. Why not Turkey?” asked Erdoğan.

“We have to succeed in reaching out to this objective. But no constraints should be put in front of us. We have no luxury of wasting time because of the shortcomings of the current system. We should take a quick decision and generate a new system,” Erdoğan said.

“There is a need of 400 lawmakers to change the constitution and therefore adopt the presidential system,” Erdoğan reiterated. “That’s why June 7 [the parliamentary elections] is very important.”

‘Presidential system does not bring dictatorship’

In response to the opposition’s criticism that he is seeking to adopt one-man rule for his dictatorial ambitions, Erdoğan recalled many developed countries like the United States, France, Brazil and Mexico had presidential systems which were free of dictatorial tendencies. “Is there a dictatorship in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil or France? Why should it in Turkey?”

“It can bring neither one-man rule nor dictatorship,” he added.