Turkish constitutional referendum, 2007
Encyclopedia
A constitutional referendum on electoral reform
took place in Turkey
on 21 October 2007. After the aborted attempt to elect the next president
in May 2007, the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
introduced substantial electoral reforms in parliament which were then passed with the votes of Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party
and the opposition Motherland Party
.
, according to the 1982 constitution, was elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
. This was due to happen in late April and early May 2007 onwards (in at most four rounds of voting to be held on 27 April 2007, 6 May 2007 and later), before Ahmet Necdet Sezer's term expired on 16 May 2007. However, the election failed after the constitutional court declared the first round of voting invalid, on the grounds that a quorum of two-third was necessary and not reached due to a boycott by opposition parties.
Parliament first passed the amendments on May 11, but Sezer vetoed the bill over concerns that the change could pit a president with a strong popular mandate against the prime minister and cause instability. AK Party legislators, who currently choose the president in a parliamentary vote, voted 370-21 in favor of the same measure (without changing a word) which demands presidential election by the public.
The President of Turkey is unable to veto a bill a second time, but he could refer it to a referendum for decision. On June 4 opposition lawmakers also said they could seek a cancellation of the vote by the Constitutional Court on the grounds of procedural flaws.
Furthermore, Sezer vetoed another law which would have made it possible to hold the constitutional referendum on 22 July 2007 instead of in October, making the reform increasingly unlikely to take place before the election.
The Republican People's Party accused Erdoğan of acting with "a sense of vengeance" for having failed first to secure his then Gul's election to this position and now at the expense of creating a "degenerated parliamentary system", he tries to secure a new path to reach his goal. The Baykal said it would mount a legal challenge to this ideology. Baykal claims that position of president in Turkey is a non-partisan, over political concerns and designed as an over sight. Presidents job description and powers demands that the policies originated from this position should reflect a balance, which all the parties can trust [or at least agree on]. Because of this balancing act, according to Baykal, it is very important to create [he says protect] the neutral point [through reaching an agreement at the parliament among the parties] of the president and prevent domination of a single party [which might generate PM and President at the same time] and control the every mechanism of the Turkish political system.
and Edirne
. Citizens of five other provinces — Muğla
, Kırklareli
, Tunceli, Tekirdağ
and Aydın
— also rejected the changes. Those seven regions are well-known for being strongholds of the secular left, which was opposed to the changes.
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
took place in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
on 21 October 2007. After the aborted attempt to elect the next president
Turkish presidential election, 2007
The 2007 Turkish presidential election refers to two attempts to elect the country's 11th president, to succeed Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The most likely candidate for president was Abdullah Gül...
in May 2007, the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
introduced substantial electoral reforms in parliament which were then passed with the votes of Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party
Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
and the opposition Motherland Party
Motherland Party (Turkey)
The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009...
.
Background
The President of TurkeyPresident of Turkey
The President of Turkey is the head of state of the Republic of Turkey. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office but has some important functions...
, according to the 1982 constitution, was elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey , usually referred to simply as the Meclis , is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence...
. This was due to happen in late April and early May 2007 onwards (in at most four rounds of voting to be held on 27 April 2007, 6 May 2007 and later), before Ahmet Necdet Sezer's term expired on 16 May 2007. However, the election failed after the constitutional court declared the first round of voting invalid, on the grounds that a quorum of two-third was necessary and not reached due to a boycott by opposition parties.
Resolution
The reforms proposed consisted of:- electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament;
- reducing the presidential term from seven years to five;
- allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term;
- holding general elections every four years instead of five;
- reducing the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions to 184.
Parliament first passed the amendments on May 11, but Sezer vetoed the bill over concerns that the change could pit a president with a strong popular mandate against the prime minister and cause instability. AK Party legislators, who currently choose the president in a parliamentary vote, voted 370-21 in favor of the same measure (without changing a word) which demands presidential election by the public.
| Constitutional Amendment: | Seats | Votes May 11 |
Votes May 31 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party (Turkey) The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament... (AK Party) |
352 | 352 | ||
| Republican People's Party Republican People's Party (Turkey) The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to... (CHP) |
149 | 0 | ||
| Motherland Party Motherland Party (Turkey) The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009... (ANAP) |
20 | 24 | 2 | |
| Democrat Party(DP) | - | - | ||
| True Path Party True Path Party The Democratic Party , abbreviated to DP, is a centre-right, conservative Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel in 1983 as the Right Path Party... (DYP) |
4 | 0 | ||
| Social Democratic People's Party Social Democratic People's Party (Turkey) The current Social Democratic People's Party or SHP is a Turkish left social-democratic political party established in 2002 by Murat Karayalçın, former Ankara Metropolitan Mayor and Foreign Minister .... (SHP) |
1 | 0 | ||
| People's Ascent Party People's Ascent Party The People's Ascent Party is a Turkish political party founded by the Istanbul MP and theologian Yaşar Nuri Öztürk on 16 February 2005, adopting the principles of a democratic state of law.... (HYP) |
1 | 0 | ||
| Young Party Young Party The Young Party is a nationalist, statist, secular, republican, political party in Turkey.-2002 elections:Cem Uzan entered politics 90 days before the 2002 elections. Young Party was not eligible to enter the elections and Yeniden Doğuş Partisi was a small party which was eligible to enter... (GP) |
1 | 0 | ||
| Independents Bağımsız | 13 | 11 | ||
| Total Seats/ Total (Yes) | 541 | 376 | 370 | |
| Total (No) | (165 boycotted) | 21 - (150 boycotted) | ||
| Please note that the distribution of seats has changed since the latest elections in 2002 Turkish general election, 2002 Turkey's 15th general election was held on November 3, 2002 following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was won by the Justice and Development Party , led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, producing a crushing majority in spite of their winning just 34.3% of the national vote... . |
||||
| On June 2, 2007, DYP will change its name to Democrat Party (DP), and ANAP would merge into DP. Eventually, DYP became DP, however, ANAP did not merge into DP, but agreed to support it in the coming general elections. | ||||
The President of Turkey is unable to veto a bill a second time, but he could refer it to a referendum for decision. On June 4 opposition lawmakers also said they could seek a cancellation of the vote by the Constitutional Court on the grounds of procedural flaws.
Constitutional Court
Sezer referred it for a referendum on 15 June 2007. However, at the same time he stated he would ask the Constitutional Court to invalidate the parliamentary vote due to procedural errors. Sezer's strong opposition reportedly comes from fears that a president with a strong popular mandate might produce a deadlock when in disagreement with the prime minister. The court ruled in early July that the reforms were indeed valid, so the referendum took place as planned.Furthermore, Sezer vetoed another law which would have made it possible to hold the constitutional referendum on 22 July 2007 instead of in October, making the reform increasingly unlikely to take place before the election.
Positions
Erdoğan claims that the position of president is political and it should be elected by the public not by the parties. "How can those who see the election of the Turkish president by popular vote as a problem for the regime ask votes from the people?" asked Erdoğan.The Republican People's Party accused Erdoğan of acting with "a sense of vengeance" for having failed first to secure his then Gul's election to this position and now at the expense of creating a "degenerated parliamentary system", he tries to secure a new path to reach his goal. The Baykal said it would mount a legal challenge to this ideology. Baykal claims that position of president in Turkey is a non-partisan, over political concerns and designed as an over sight. Presidents job description and powers demands that the policies originated from this position should reflect a balance, which all the parties can trust [or at least agree on]. Because of this balancing act, according to Baykal, it is very important to create [he says protect] the neutral point [through reaching an agreement at the parliament among the parties] of the president and prevent domination of a single party [which might generate PM and President at the same time] and control the every mechanism of the Turkish political system.
Debates
Since the original text of the referendum question called for "all presidents starting with the 11th" to be elected by popular vote, the incumbent (eleventh) president would have had to stand down and have his election reconfirmed by popular vote; therefore, the AK Party amended the text before the referendum, in a parliamentary session on 16 October 2007.Results
Sixty percent of all voters participated in the referendum. Nearly seventy percent of the participants supported the constitutional changes. The referendum saw considerable support in the eastern regions, where support reached up to the ninety percent. On the other hand, western regions generally took a more critical standing. The constitutional changes were rejected in the important provinces of İzmirIzmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
and Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
. Citizens of five other provinces — Muğla
Mugla
Muğla is a city in south-western Turkey. It is the center of the district the same name, as well as of Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey´s Aegean coast. Muğla center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a distance of about from the nearest seacoast in the Gulf of...
, Kırklareli
Kirklareli
Kırklareli is the capital of Kırklareli Province in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. The province has a coastline on the Black Sea. There is a Jewish community.-Name:It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name...
, Tunceli, Tekirdağ
Tekirdag
Tekirdağ , the ancient Bisanthi , is a city in Eastern Thrace, in the European part of Turkey. Tekirdağ is the capital of Tekirdağ Province, felt by the local people to be a quieter and more pleasant town than the industrial centre of Çorlu, which it administers. The city population as of 2009 was...
and Aydın
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
— also rejected the changes. Those seven regions are well-known for being strongholds of the secular left, which was opposed to the changes.