“Table of Six” to make an announcement today, in Ankara: Libertarian constitution

The eyes will be on the meeting where the draft constitution prepared by the “6 party table” will be announced at the Bilkent Hotel, in Ankara today. Cumhuriyet newspaper has reached the important articles of the draft, which have been given final shape and put into print. In the 150-page draft, article 85 of the current constitution was amended. The powers of the president, who was described as ”ONE MAN”, were also limited.

A full consensus has been reached on the draft constitution, which the 6 party table has been working on for a long time. In the draft, a total of 85 amendments to the article were envisaged and the powers of the president were made symbolic.

The leaders have decided not to touch article 24 which regulates secularism.

In the draft, which foresees further steps on the freedom of the press, the provision “Freedom is the basis, restriction is the exception” is foreseen for this title.

Cumhuriyet newspaper reached the important statements of the draft constitution of the 6 party table, to be announced to the public today at the Bilkent Hotel. According to the information obtained, 85 articles of the current constitution has been amended in the draft which has been finalized and printed. The draft constitution, together with the reasons, was printed as 150 pages.

PRESSURES WILL DISAPPEAR

In order to eliminate the restrictions and pressures imposed on the press during the AKP government, the legal staffs of the six parties conducted a comprehensive study. As a result of this work, a step forward was taken regarding the freedom of the press. In particular, it was learned that all six leaders stood with importance at this point, while the constitutional provision on freedom of the press was stated as “Freedom is the main one, restriction is the exception”. With this article, the reasons for the restrictions that eliminate the freedom of the press will be greatly reduced when (and if) opposition comes to power.

END TO VETO POWER

The powers of the president, who caused the most intense criticism of the opposition and was described as “one-man”, were greatly limited. In this context, the following statements were included in the draft regarding the decisions to be made by the president:

“All decisions of the President, except for the actions that he can do alone, will be subject to the signature of the prime minister and the relevant minister. On the other hand, if the person elected to the Presidency belongs to a party, it will be ensured that he/she ceases to be affiliated with his/her party before taking office. Thus, the impartiality of the president will be guaranteed.”

In addition, the veto power of the president is removed. Regarding this, the following provision is being introduced: “The veto power granted to the president over the laws adopted by the Grand National Assembly will be terminated. Thus, the president of the Republic will return the laws adopted by the Assembly to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for a one-time basis, as before. The Parliament will be able to adopt the returned law exactly by simple majority if it wishes.”

APPOINTMENT BY PRESIDENT TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REDUCED

In the draft, there are also remarkable regulations on the Constitutional Court (Constitutional Court), which is another issue attracts a reaction. The appointments of the President to the Constitutional Court are reduced to two. According to this arrangement, the Constitutional Court will consist of 22 members. Twenty of the members will be elected by the Parliament and two by the president. The members of the Constitutional Court to be elected by the members of the assembly will consist of candidates from the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Court of Accounts, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, the Council of Higher Education. On the other hand, the President of the Republic will be able to choose a member from among the rapporteurs of the Constitutional Court and a member from among the faculty members with the title of professor.

CURRENT STATE OF PROVISION ON SECULARISM HAS BEEN PRESERVED EXACTLY

One of the eagerly awaited topics in the draft was the regulation of secularism. In this context, the legal staffs of the six parties have done some work on article 24 of the constitution. However, the authority to decide on the proposed amendments to this issue was left to the 6 leaders. The position of the six leaders on this issue also became clear last week. Thus, it was agreed that the article would not be changed and that its current state would be preserved.