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Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan shut the door on any compromise with the opposition saying that the ongoing process regarding the constitutional amendments will continue as planned. Earlier he had expressed no objection to a proposal by the opposition leader Deniz Baykal that the amendments package should be divided into two and the articles on which there is agreement in the assembly would pass without resorting to a national referendum. The rest of the amendments that Baykal, the leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) claims would put the entire judiciary under the control of the government would be submitted to voters for final decision.
“There is no possibility for a major change in the process unless an extraordinary situation arises. The process will continue,” said Erdogan at a television interview over the weekend.
While scuttling any hopes of rapprochement with the opposition, Erdogan came up with another brand new topic on the agenda. He announced that Turkey should move on to a U.S. like presidential system of government by 2012.
“We can introduce a totally new constitution to the people during the campaign for 2011 elections,” said Erdogan. He went on to complain about the judiciary obstructing moves by his government during the first years in office. “That’s why we are trying to bring about changes in the judiciary system,” he added.
Erdogan said he would prefer a presidential system similar to the one in the U.S. “We must look at the system in the U.S. for administration to function more easily and obtain more effective results. In the U.S. the presidents make the proposals but without the decision of the Congress those proposals cannot be put into force. There the Congress is very powerful. But you see here we pass legislation with 411 majority in the parliament but that legislation is repealed by appointed bureaucrats,” said Erdogan. He was referring to a case when the legislators voted to lift the ban on Islamic headscarves at the universities. The Constitutional Court repealed the legislation deciding that it was in violation of the secularism principle.
Erdogan’s comments immediately led to comments that he is planning to move to the presidential office after 2011. However, he refused to commit himself saying, “Nobody should have the right to say what will happen tomorrow. I cannot say anything about myself at this stage.”
