WEB DESK
Turkey Parliament has approved key Articles of a constitutional reform which would allow the President to be a member of a political party and issue decrees. The three approved articles set out Parliament’s supervisory role, enables President to retain ties with a political party and detail the President’s executive powers as head of state, including the power to issue decrees.
The ruling AK Party, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through the legislation. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says, the legislation will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return of the fragile coalition governments of the past.
The main opposition CHP and the second largest opposition party pro-Kurdish HDP fear these changes will fuel authoritarianism.
The plans envisage Presidential and general elections being held in 2019. The changes will need to pass in two more rounds of voting before the constitutional package as a whole is put to a referendum.