Erdoğan's Presidential Tenure Kicks Off With Violation Of Constitution

After being elected in the Aug. 10 presidential election, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the presidential oath on Thursday. However, on Aug. 27, a day before his inauguration, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) held an extraordinary congress that was led by President-elect Erdoğan.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu became the new party leader following an announcement from Erdoğan at the congress. Consequently, Davutoğlu will soon be tasked by Erdoğan with the formation of the Cabinet as prime minister. Commentators argue that Erdoğan was not entitled to participate in the AK Party congress, as the Constitution orders the president-elect to cut all ties with political parties.
Radikal daily columnist Tarhan Erdem wrote a Thursday piece titled “New constitution through violating the current one.” According to Erdem, it is a question of whether the AK Party wants a new constitution to consolidate democracy in the country or whether it wants only to remain in power. At Wednesday's congress, Erdoğan's role as prime minister and party leader, though he is now the president-elect, is a clear violation of the Turkish Constitution. Erdem points to the fact that the 2007 amendment to the Constitution, which introduced the popular vote in presidential elections, changed the first three parts of Article 101 but preserved the fourth. “The president-elect, if a member of a party, shall sever his relations with his party, and his status as a member of Parliament shall cease,” Erdem quoted from the fourth part of Article 101, in reference to Erdoğan's heading of Wednesday's AK Party congress despite having been elected president on Aug. 10.
The columnist emphasized that the AK Party had been in power during the 2007 amendments to the Constitution, hence the article that requires the president to cut ties with his party cannot be considered part of the 1982 Constitution, which is known as the “military coup constitution.” Addressing Davutoğlu, Erdem asked: “Is it possible to draft a constitution based on the rule of law after starting by violating the current constitution? Will the new constitution aim to protect the rights of people or to protect the government?”
Hasan Cemal, a columnist writing for the online news portal T24, wrote on Thursday that the “new Turkey,” which is Erdoğan's favorite epithet to describe the era since his ruling party came to power, is a Turkey in which the Constitution is merely an idea. According to Cemal, the most obvious example of these violations of the Constitution was Erdoğan's speech at the AK Party congress after he was elected president on Aug. 10. Cemal pointed out that Erdoğan should have cut relations with his party on Aug. 13, when the official results of the election were announced by the Supreme Election Board (YSK). “Starting from Aug. 13, he should have been impartial and positioned himself above political parties. Because this is what the Constitution says,” Cemal wrote.

GÜNAY HİLAL AYGÜN (Cihan/Today's Zaman)