Striking new constitution remarks from former Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek: ‘It’s harder than moving Mount Erciyes...’

Former Parliament Speaker and Presidential High Advisory Board member Cemil Çiçek said, “Changing the constitution is not as easy as people think. Believe me, it is harder than moving Mount Erciyes. No one should be misled by fancy words into thinking this will be easy. We need to be realistic. Hopefully, we will break the jinx this time.”

New constitution efforts have begun within the AKP, which emerged from the March 31 Local Elections with a defeat. Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has visited political parties with groups in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) to hold talks regarding the new constitution efforts.

Former Parliament Speaker and Presidential High Advisory Board member Cemil Çiçek made statements regarding the new constitution efforts on the agenda.

Speaking to Saygı Öztürk from Sözcü, Çiçek stated that despite all political parties including constitutional amendments in their election manifestos during his own term as speaker, they were unable to achieve it.

Çiçek described the similar process experienced during his own term as follows:

“When the parties said they would support a constitutional amendment, I sent them a letter informing them that I would form a commission with members they deemed appropriate. This was one of the methods. The second was that, after receiving their approval, we would discuss the authority of the parliament of that day, which was being debated in academic circles, to draft a new Constitution. Some academics were saying, ‘This parliament does not have the authority to draft a constitution. Because constitutions are made by constituent assemblies. This parliament has not been authorized to draft a constitution. Therefore, today's parliament cannot do the work of a constituent assembly.’ Prof. Dr. Atilla Özer was of the opinion that ‘A parliament should be formed from a certain number of people from every professional group, and they, not this parliament, should draft the constitution.’

In other words, there was a debate in those days about ‘whether this parliament can draft a constitution or not.’ Upon this, I invited 26 constitutional law professors from almost every viewpoint who were actively serving in universities. This was the first time such a thing had happened. Most of them met each other at that meeting. They also stated that there was a need for a new Constitution and kept minutes. Political parties have views on a new Constitution. So, it is clear that there is a need for a constitution.”

"A NEW CONSTITUTION DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE ON THE HORIZON"

“If something is to be done now, Parliament Speaker Mr. Numan Kurtulmuş needs to clarify what he means by ‘a new constitution’,” said Çiçek, continuing as follows:

“As I understand it, when ‘new constitution’ is mentioned, it needs to be clarified whether it is a brand-new car from start to finish, or whether it is a partial amendment, considering there are articles that have aged over time and despite previous amendments, there may still be articles that need changing.

If you look at the statements made, a new constitution does not appear to be on the horizon. Some say ‘the first 4 articles and Article 66 are unchangeable.’ There are others with different views on this. Right from the start, the issue of a new constitution is not fully clarified. The parliament speaker needs to clarify this first. Some say, ‘We have solved that. This parliament can now draft a new Constitution. The constituent assembly phase is now behind us. These debates can be held academically, but they have no practical karşılığı (equivalent/counterpart).’”

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM DEBATES

Pointing out that there are serious differences of opinion between the parties regarding the organizational structure by recalling the parliamentary system debates, Çiçek said, “Are those who say ‘parliamentary system’ asking, ‘Shall we fix the presidential system, are we saying yes to that?’, or are those who say presidential government system saying, ‘Okay, there are shortcomings, but can we also talk about the parliamentary system?’ Unless this question is clarified, just passing the ball around in midfield will not get us anywhere. Because when you say parliamentary system or presidential government system, whichever you prefer, at least 30-40 articles will have to be written accordingly. It is not just a single article.”

Reminding that the method by which this amendment or new Constitution will be drafted is important, Çiçek said, “During my speakership, I said, ‘4 parties will come together, every article will be passed by consensus.’ Even as I said this, the chance of this work being done became very difficult from the start. We struggled immensely just to reach an agreement on 60 articles. Because Party B said ‘No’ to what Party A said ‘Yes’ to. It was not just between parties; deep-seated disagreements also emerged between representatives of the same party. Therefore, it is extremely important that the members of the same party who will serve on the commission are also compatible with each other. Now, will a decision be made by the 6 party representatives saying ‘yes’ to every article, or according to a majority vote? These need to be clarified.”

"CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION IS NOT AS EASY AS PEOPLE THINK"

Finally, Çiçek expressed his view: “Unless 6 parties give general approval regarding the entire constitution, the consensus on the articles has no meaning. Changing the constitution is not as easy as people think. Believe me, it is harder than moving Mount Erciyes. No one should be misled by fancy words into thinking this will be easy. We need to be realistic. Hopefully, we will break the jinx this time.”

News Source: 12punto