Constitutional Reforms Debate Causes Mass Fight in Turkish Parliament

The debate on the constitutional reforms which have to turn Turkey from a parliamentary into a presidential republic, insisted on by the current head of state Recep Erdoğan, started in a very tense atmosphere in Parliament and led to a mass fight after tension escalated on Thursday, reported Hürriyet Daily News.

Opposition to the draft bill of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is supported by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), came from the social democratic Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP).

The People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which is focused on the Kurdish problem, also criticised sharply the draft bill which concentrates the entire executive power in the cabinet of the president and increases the influence of the executive power over the legislative and the judicial powers.

At first reading in Parliament, it was decided whether to debate the entire framework. This proposal was supported by 338 deputies, while 134 voted “against”.

The threshold for submitting the draft bill to debate in a referendum is 330 votes in the 550-seat Parliament.

Now, Parliament will debate each of the 21 articles of the draft bill and if any of these receives less than 330 votes, the article will be excluded from the package, even if the remaining articles receive at least 330 votes.

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