While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is considering reducing presidential powers in its draft constitution, there are some who doubt it has such intentions. Professor of constitutional law, Mümtaz Soysal, told the Turkish Daily News, “I do not think the AKP will reduce presidential powers at this stage, despite what we saw in the draft constitution.”

He believes the referendum was the start of the government's efforts to transform the state from a parliamentary system into a presidential one. Soysal said the presidential powers, already deemed excessive for a parliamentary system, remain the same.

The AKP charged professor of constitutional law, Ergun Özbudun, with penning a draft text for what is dubbed a “civilian constitution,” which considerably limits the powers of the president and has sparked hot debates.

The office of the president, in its current state, has no executive powers. Former Ambassador Yalım Eralp said the result of the referendum could lead to a semi-presidential system only if the government increases the powers of the head of state.

Eralp also said the president was seen as a unifying figure until now, adding, “it is inevitable now that he will become more politicized.”

Eralp suggested that the president could become a rival to the prime minister. “However this will not be the case with the current setting of the executive. When a popularly elected president arrives in power, things could change,” he said.

Prominent columnist, Haluk Şahin, agreed and said a systemic change could take place. “The president might be an alternative political figure to the prime minister, becoming more and more involved in politics,” he said.

There are some who believe concerns on changes in the functioning of the state are premature.

Academic at Kültür University, Mensur Akgün, said the referendum could not lay the groundwork for regime change, but warned about future political clashes between a strong president elected by the people and a prime minister, if they were from different parties.

“Both will be governing with the power of being elected by the people. There might be differences and the differences might create problems. This system has problems even in countries that have been using it for years. To make it something sustainable might be possible by new regulations in the Constitution like restraining the authority of the president,” he said.


Government content with results

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said people have had the final word and brought an end to all controversies that have sparked crises in the past, at a press conference yesterday. “They (people) made a historic contribution to Turkey's stability,” he said.

The AKP's efforts to elect former Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül as president in Parliament were dashed with a decision by the Constitutional Court, which ruled in May that the quorum is two-thirds of deputies (367 out of 550) for a presidential vote. The AKP later introduced the constitutional amendments package that envisaged the direct election of the president as well as reducing the parliamentary quorum to one-third of deputies for all sessions. The amendment was sent to a referendum by former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who vetoed the change twice before being obliged to do so.

Turkish people behaved responsibly and went to the polls “to build a bright future for Turkey,” Erdoğan said. Those who absented themselves and who voted “no” made up 53 percent of the total electorate, whereas the percentage of voters who favored the amendment remained at 46. Several cities in eastern and southeastern Anatolia voted in favor of the changes by more than 90 percent.


CHP says referendum result ends Gül's presidency

The Republican People's Party's (CHP) deputy leader, Kemal Anadol, yesterday called on the President of the Supreme Election Board (YSK) Muammer Aydın to resign. The YSK, whose decisions cannot be appealed, ruled in a close decision with six members in favor and five against that the referendum would take place on Sunday as scheduled. Two provisional articles in the package that said that the 11th president would be elected by popular vote were removed Tuesday, since Abdullah Gül was already elected on Aug. 28. The CHP applied to the YSK arguing that the referendum should be canceled given that the text to be voted on was changed after voting had already started at the border gates on Sept. 11.

Anadol further said that as soon as the official results of the referendum are published in the official gazette, the mandate of the President Gül will come to an end and a new president must be elected.

* Onur Belli from Istanbul contributed to this report.