The New Anatolian

OPINION

Friday 21st of November 2008 03:24:11 AM GMT+2

A lame duck administration in Turkey

The current uncertainties and crisis over the closure threat of the AK Party has rendered the government and even the president into a lame duck role.

Ilnur Cevik

14 April 2008

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

The court case to closedown the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has unfortunately transformed our administration into a lame duck situation that will not be resolved until the Constitutional Court decides in six to 12 months whether the party should be disbanded as the prosecutor has demanded…

The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keeping a brace face but in essence they have been pushed into an awkward situation where they have to run the country with the limitation brought by the court case.

Some people may claim nothing has changed and business can proceed as usual in Turkey but they are wrong.

Turkey's bureaucracy in jittery. Civil servants become extremely cautious when such situations arise. Thus their performance is negatively affected which in turn slows down state activities. It becomes extremely hard for the government to speed up state mechanisms and get quick results.

Besides, once such a threat of closure starts hanging over the ruling party even its own followers and some of its parliamentarians start hesitating as they tow the party line.

Abroad people have started discussing the AK Party as the victim of a plot. This affects the dealings of the government with foreign states and its ability to influence them.

Even the office of the president has come under question. There is a debate on whether Abdullah Gul can hang on to his presidency.

Some provincial governors we talk to recently say the court case against AK Party should be resolved as soon as possible. They say this should be done in six weeks. They feel if he political crisis is prolonged and the uncertainties deepen various regions of Turkey will be adversely affected and the political crisis may turn into an economic and social crisis.

We are not making a doom warning. We are stating the facts on the ground and warning everyone that if the current crisis is not resolved by everyone in a responsible manner things will turn to worse in the next few months. Then even the reforms sought by the European Union may become meaningless.

All Artices of Ilnur Cevik

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