The New Anatolian

OPINION

Saturday 04th of July 2009 11:34:46 AM GMT+2

New constitution debate is creating more confusion

As everyone agrees that Turkey needs a new constitution to replace the current one drafted by a military junta, the Parliament should have the final say on how and when the new document should be prepared. It is wrong to crate confusion and discord.

Ilnur Cevik

26 September 2007

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

The more everyone talks about the new constitution the more confusion is being created.

The talk is not really centered on the substance of the new constitution and what can be done to make it a document of superior quality but it is more to do with how to prevent this Parliament of actually writing a new and modern constitution for this country.

The starting point is the fact that everyone says the current constitution was drafted under a military junta and despite the fact that 30 percent of it has been amended since 1982 it is still the product of an authoritarian rule. So everyone also agrees that Turkey should have a new and modern constitution that befits a civilized country…

But that is where the consensus ends.

The so-called elite secularists of Turkey and the conservative establishment are busy to find alibis to halt the debates even before anyone attempts to rewrite the current constitution.

The latest objections come from independent deputy Kamer Genc from the eastern province of Tunceli who is a former deputy speaker of the parliament.

He says the parliament cannot draft a new constitution but can only amend the old one. So we can ask the representatives of this nation to legislate vital laws or even declare war but we cannot ask them to write us a brand new constitution… Is this logical?

Then of course there are those who raise the issue that the Justice and Development (AK) Party aims to secretly draft a constitution that will eventually change the character of the state and scrap secularism…

All in all the real effort is to deny the AK Party the chance to legislate a new constitution at all costs and prevent Turkey from modernizing.

The only meaningful move has been made by the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) which called for the Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan to open a debate on how the new constitution should be drafted.

AK Party is preparing its own draft for the constitution but this is only the draft of the ruling side. Other parties should also have their own drafts or at least their views take into account that will make an impact on the legislation of the constitution which will be a social contact for our country.

It is true that as everyone agrees that a new constitution is needed then the Parliament should decide how and when this will be done irrespective of the fact that the ruling AK Party with 47 percent of the national votes behind it deserves to have a major say…

All Artices of Ilnur Cevik

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