Turkey will have a much more effective, transparent and fast government model, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has said ahead of a constitutional referendum set for April. “The people will choose a new government system, and weaknesses related to the system [as well as] some bureaucratic obstacles in front of Turkey will be removed,” Kalin said in Istanbul on Saturday during an autograph session of his latest book I, the Other and Beyond.
Constitutional reform and the change to a presidential system has been on the political agenda since Erdogan, a former prime minister and Justice and Development (AK) Party leader, was elected president in August 2014. This marked the first time a Turkish president had been directly chosen by popular vote. On January 20, Turkish lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voted in favor of a new constitutional reform package.
Two opposition parties, the People’s Republican Party (CHP) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), remain opposed to the proposed changes. Aside from the change to an executive presidency, other reforms include allowing the president to maintain party political affiliation. There will be changes to Turkey’s highest judicial body, which would be renamed while retaining its independence and own budget. It also sets 2019 as the date for Turkey’s next presidential and parliamentary elections.