OFFICIAL: THE DEMOCRATIC PACKAGE WILL CHANGE THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN TURKEY
21 September 2013 /ALİ ASLAN KILIÇ, ANKARA – Zaman – Spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Hüseyin Çelik has said any comments or predictions on the new democratization package amount to nothing more than speculation until Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces its content.However, an official who declined to be named told Today’s Zaman early on Friday that “some points related to the election system were added to the package at the last minute, but [the content] is not clear yet. The election system will probably be based on proportional representation.”
If the election system is changed to one of proportional representation, the controversial 10 percent threshold for representation in Parliament will no longer apply.
Announcement of the details of the democratization package has been repeatedly delayed. The official also said that the package as announced by Prime Minister Erdoğan will not be the final version as the final details will not be clear until public debates are held. The announcement, originally scheduled in June, is now expected to be made in late September. The democratization package is also expected to change the names of some regions and cities, such as the name of the eastern province of Tunceli, which many think will be changed back to Dersim. Moreover, bans on head coverings included in regulations by the Sept. 12, 1980 coups d’état government are also expected to be eliminated. The Hat Law, which led to the execution of İskilipli Atıf Hoca, a Muslim cleric, is expected to be abolished. Many also expect the democratization package to make progress on the issue of offering education in mother tongues, too, allowing Turkey’s Kurdish minority to study in its own language in private schools. Commenting on the possible switch to an election system of proportional representation, AK Party Deputy Chairman Mustafa Şentop has said that political parties should look at this system from a consideration of what is right rather than through the weighing of pros and cons.
“Where big cities are concerned, the number of deputies is high and the electorate for each deputy is large. We are trying to find a formula of balance,” Şentop said.
Commenting on the possible new election system, pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Şırnak deputy Hasip Kaplan has said that his party made the initial moves to abolish the election threshold and to seek Treasury funding for all parties. However, he stated that a switch to a system of proportional representation would be totally against his party’s efforts in these regards and that “this is not a just but a low system.” Kaplan said that this form of election system would serve the interests of the ruling AK Party and would not reflect the will of the Turkish nation. “It is against equal and just representation and would disrespect the will of the electorate. A just and true system is one in which the people’s will is reflected at the ballot box, and this is the current system but without an election threshold,” Kaplan said.