Erdogan Has Tricky Path To Constitutional Referendum
Yavuz Baydar asks whether a draft referendum on a new constitution is progress for Turkish democracy.
Will Turkey go to a referendum over a new draft constitution? If you read into the repetitious signals from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and lend an ear to the loudness of its voices, the answer is a loud and clear yes.
It was once more expressed by the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a behind-closed-doors party meeting with AKP deputies representing the Aegean (Western Anatolian) region, that the time is getting ripe for a referendum on adopting a constitution, and that it is inevitable.
For those who doubt that such closure is in sight, consider the following: Facing three key elections in next two years, Erdogan feels he has a historic chance for himself and his party to extend their rule over Turkey — with a social contract defining a “new order.”
How democratic the “new order” will be is anybody’s guess. The drafting process had started with a parliamentary reconciliation commission set up of four parties represented in the Grand Assembly; each party got three members on the commission.
