AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a decree abolishing the Presidential Administrative Affairs Directorate and replacing it with the Presidential Secretariat.
The secretariat, which had been abolished following the transition to the Presidential Government System, has been reinstated after 6 years.
Nefes Gazetesi columnist Nuray Babacan covered the reasons behind this return and the discussions taking place in AKP lobbies in her column today.
Stating that "the complaints of deputies who feel weaker than the appointed bureaucrats are increasing," Babacan reported that while these discussions were ongoing, the decision published in the Official Gazette to return to the secretariat structure was interpreted by some party members as the "beginning of change."
In her article titled "What is happening in the Palace?", Babacan noted the following:
“According to ruling party lobbies, this development is the first step toward eliminating the cadres and the multi-headed image that has formed in the Presidential Palace. It is claimed that the structural change will take place from within the Palace, unnecessary intermediary mechanisms will be removed, and interference in politics will decrease.
In this process, claims that the 9 boards in the Palace, which occasionally experience conflict with the party management, will be abolished do not seem possible 'for now.' However, it is reported that the pressure of these boards on the legislature has decreased and that, apart from the personal outbursts of Legal Policy Board Deputy Chairman Mehmet Uçum, these structures are not as active as they used to be.”
News Source: 12punto
