A referendum on the country’s new charter, which stipulates the adoption of an executive presidential system, could be held in early 2017 if two parties settle on the terms, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said.
“If parliament puts [the constitutional charter] on its agenda and makes a decision at once, [the referendum] will be held in 2017, no later than the spring. But it seems difficult to complete it before 2017 since there is a legislative process in the parliament,” he said in a televised interview on Oct. 14.
“We have a very short, two-and-a-half month period ahead of us, but to get it done in 2017, before the spring, seems manageable as long as the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) agree on a date for the parliamentary vote,” he said.
“When the two parties agree, we will see the referendum. If not, [the constitutional change] will be left as a discussion,” Bozdağ added.
In his first statement after MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli hinted he could support a referendum on a presidential system, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said public opinion surveys indicated that the Turkish people favored the adoption of an executive presidential system.