MPs voting in second round on "lifting immunities"

The Turkish Parliament convened on Friday for the second and final round of voting on the bill which could lift immunities of 138 deputies facing criminal charges.

The Grand National Assembly met at 10:00 am to vote on making two temporary amendments to the constitution to remove deputies' immunity from prosecution. The two temporary amendments will be voted on separately and together in the 550-seat Assembly.

The bill can be taken to a referendum if the results remain above 330 and below 367 in the final round of voting.

Parliament backed the bill that would strip dozens of deputies of their parliamentary immunity. The first article of the proposal was accepted with 373 votes.

The motion needs at least 330 votes to be approved by parliament. If 367 MPs or more vote in favor of the bill, then it will be presented to the president for approval.

The bill was supported by 357 of 550 lawmakers in the first vote, 10 less than the required 367 to have it approved without referendum.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which has 316 seats, and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has 40 seats, are both backing the bill.

The targeted lawmakers, from all four parliamentary parties, have a total of 667 criminal proceedings lodged against them.

The chairs of opposition parties have dossiers against them, with HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş facing 75 criminal cases, Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 41 and MHP head Devlet Bahçeli nine. Some MPs from People's Democratic Party (HDP) will likely be arrested as they have faced terror-related charges.