Member of Parliament transfers and political ethics…

Centuries ago, Plato summarized political ethics in a nutshell by stating that “public office is a public trust.” At a time when the transfer of Members of Parliament (MPs) is back on the agenda, it is worth recalling the issue of political ethics.

Before the 2023 General Elections, the political ethics law was a topic frequently raised by the opposition, and more specifically by Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu. It was one of the priority laws they would have implemented had they won the election.

Now is the perfect time to discuss this issue again…

So, what is this political ethics? Let’s take a look, shall we…

In fact, ethics can be briefly defined as an individual exhibiting correct behavior in light of moral values. In general, ethical behavior in daily life can be seen as patterns of conduct such as not lying, not stealing, not acting unfairly, not violating rights, and respecting social values. Ethics in politics is a subject that many countries around the world have pondered, attempted to establish universal norms for, and even tried to systematize by writing them down as codes of ethical conduct. It is important. I say it is important because it cannot be said that political ethics is still being seriously studied or pondered in our country. Although it is a subject that is studied extensively in the academic field, it is a concept in which we remain quite weak when it comes to practice.

When political ethics is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, that a politician should not use the power they derive from the public for their own interests. This is a feature that a public official must possess, like air or water. It is important that they do not provide benefits not only for their own interests but also for their circle and relatives. We can count honesty, fairness, adherence to the constitution, effective work, transparency, and accountability among ethical values. In addition, we can include elements such as MPs not accepting high-value gifts, disclosing their assets to the public, not engaging in corruption, and not receiving payment for speeches and meetings they attend outside of parliament within the scope of political ethics assessment. In fact, activities incompatible with being an MP are defined in both the parliamentary internal regulations and the constitution. Although we can evaluate these articles within the scope of political ethics, a more comprehensive definition of ethical codes seems necessary.

In the articles I wrote after the 2023 General Elections, I stated that we had entered a legislative term full of MP transfers. Of course, these transfers may not only occur as being elected from an opposition party and moving to the ruling party, but sometimes as changing parties within the opposition as well.

However, in terms of a possible new constitutional study or an early election vote in the coming period, the balance between parties and the number of MPs gain great importance. Perhaps the issue we should discuss at this point is whether it is ethical for an MP, who was elected to parliament to be represented by receiving votes from the voters of an opposition party, to move to the ruling party. We can, of course, ask the exact opposite as well…

How should leaving the ruling party while being an MP to form a party be evaluated from an ethical perspective? The most fundamental variable between these two questions is the justification for the departure. Studies have shown that 54.8% of MP transfers are made for individual gain (Tuncay, 1996: 287).

When viewed in terms of individual gain, there is a very serious difference between moving from the opposition to the ruling party and moving from the ruling party to the opposition.

In light of all these evaluations, let us ask again: do you think MP transfers are in accordance with political ethics?

Tuncay, S. (2016). Intra-party democracy and Turkey (Vol. 2). Gündoğan Publications.