New constitution clues from Beştepe Chief Advisor Mehmet Uçum

You may recall that earlier this week "Why does the Palace want a constitutional amendment?" I wrote an article regarding the government's calls for a new constitution.

I received a response to the article from Presidential Chief Advisor Mehmet Uçum.

Mehmet Uçum made statements with clear expressions on two very important issues that have sparked debate, and he clarified the following two points regarding the proposed constitutional amendment:

First of all, Uçum stated that if a new constitution is drafted, there is no intention to change the requirement for the president to be elected with 50 percent plus one of the votes, as has been discussed.

Another statement from Uçum concerned whether the President could run for a third term; according to Uçum, there will be no change on this matter either, because Erdoğan can already be a candidate if the parliament decides to call for elections.

Uçum stated the following:

"A very important point is being overlooked. A new constitution is not actually needed for a third term. If the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) decides to renew the elections with 360 deputies in early 2028, then the exceptional candidacy provision comes into play, and President Erdoğan would have the right to be a candidate for a third and final term."

According to this statement by Uçum, if the TBMM decides on early elections in 2028 with the votes of 360 deputies, and if Erdoğan runs again and is elected, he could remain in office until 2033.

Currently, the AKP has 263 deputies in the TBMM, and its partner, the MHP, has 50; their combined total is 313, which is not enough to decide on renewing the elections. However, if, for example, the IYI Party (44 deputies) and DEVA (15 deputies) were to support such a decision, the 360 threshold would be exceeded, paving the way for Erdoğan.

WHY A NEW CONSTITUTION?

Chief Advisor to the President and Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Legal Policies Board, Mehmet Uçum, also responded to questions regarding 'Why does the government want a new constitution?'

And while providing these answers, he stated that the following qualities are indispensable in the new constitution to be drafted:

"A constitution based on the Republic, our Republic's founding leader Atatürk, the unitary structure, justice and human rights, which is democratic, secular, a social state, and a state of law, where the official language is Turkish, the flag is the crescent-and-star Red Flag, the national anthem is the Independence March, and the capital is Ankara, is indispensable for our Nation."

These indispensable principles mentioned by Uçum are still included in the first four articles of the Constitution.

Since the answers Uçum gave to the question 'Why a new constitution?' are too broad to be covered in the scope of this article, you can access the full text via the documents below. (Appendix-1)

THE 50 PERCENT PLUS ONE ISSUE

Mehmet Uçum, who states that the new constitution should be a 2023 Constitution, says that the requirement of being elected with 50 percent plus one of the votes will be preserved exactly as it is, and he explained the reasoning for this with another long note. According to Uçum, 50 percent plus one is a necessary condition for Turkey, and his reasons for this are as follows:

"Some political circles oppose this because they see it as impossible to receive more than fifty percent support. But this is not in the interest of the public. Turkish society is a diverse society. Wanting to reduce this ratio leads to a weakening of national unity, and...