How should the relationship between the opposition and the government be?

By opposition, I mean political opposition. Political opposition is a phenomenon and behavior that involves opposing a political regime existing at any given time in certain social forms, the socioeconomic order within it, or just one of these, as well as those holding political power or their activities; it involves criticizing these—either by offering an alternative program or proposal or without doing so—within legal boundaries or by resorting to various non-legal means, while creating influence and results in line with desired goals.

What is meant in our country is parliamentary opposition. Parliamentary opposition plays a central role in the functioning of representative democracy. While waiting for its turn to attain political power, it examines and criticizes the decisions of the political majority and offers alternative policies. So, is the opposition in our country doing this?

The relationship between the opposition and the government is one of the cornerstones of a healthy democracy. However, because this balance has not been established to date, we are governed by a flawed democracy.

In fact, the relationship between the government and the opposition should be competitive rather than confrontational, supervisory rather than destructive, and institutional rather than hostile.

The government's duty is to govern the country, produce policy, and implement it. The opposition's duty is to supervise the government, criticize it, and produce alternatives. In a healthy government-opposition relationship, the opposition exposes errors, investigates allegations of corruption or illegality, and holds the government accountable before Parliament and the public. Interestingly, the government sometimes does what the opposition should do and directs allegations of corruption and illegality toward the opposition.

The government, on the other hand, should be open to criticism, act transparently, and protect the boundary between the state and the party. If this balance is not established, democracy weakens.

In terms of the process our country is going through and international relations, it is necessary to act together on common ground for our national interests. National issues are above party calculations and are a matter of survival. The government and the opposition must act together on foreign policy and fundamental security issues, natural disasters, national interests, and the protection of the constitutional order.

What determines the quality of this relationship is not just the constitution, but political culture. Therefore, a language that uses arguments instead of insults, negotiation instead of polarization, and says "all of us" instead of "us and them" is of great importance.

Our country needs a strong opposition and a strong government. A strong opposition makes the government careful, while a strong government creates decisive management. Together, they mean a stable democracy.

Our country needs a government-opposition relationship that is tough but respectful, competitive but rule-based, critical but constructive, and capable of acting together within a constitutional framework, now more than ever.

When we look at the government-opposition relationship today, we see that high polarization, harsh rhetoric, a weak culture of compromise, and an understanding based on identity politics prevail.

What should be is this: To save our country from its flawed democratic structure, the oversight capacity of Parliament must be strengthened, the language of politics must be softened, the supra-party nature of institutions must be protected, legitimacy debates must end, and a culture of compromise must be secured through constitutional and political guarantees.

One of the most important reasons why the adventure of democratization and modernization in our country has not been fully achieved to date is that the relationship between the government and the opposition has a liquidating and domineering political culture. A government-opposition relationship whose legitimacy is constantly questioned cannot save our country from its flawed democratic structure.

We do not deserve this situation.