Turkey heads to the polls for landmark referendum

The polls have opened to Turkish voters for a historic constitutional referendum that can change the country’s system of governance.

“Yes” voters have rallied behind President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who they describe as a leader capable of steering Turkey to success in a time of terrorism infused turbulence, security threats and the aftermath of the July 15th coup attempt.

Erdoğan, who has governed since 2003, has wrangled inflation rates, which exceeded 100 percent in the early 1990s, and nurtured Turkey’s economic growth. He galvanized civil liberties and foreign investment soared.

Working class conservatives were given a voice by Erdoğan. As a NATO member and regional power, Turkey has entered the world stage as a key player.

Turkey’s constitution was penned in 1982 by generals who shepherded a military coup two years earlier, and has since been modified 18 times by six different governments.

The current system is a hybrid, neither a parliamentary nor a presidential system. The system features both a directly elected parliament and a directly elected president. Elections determine who holds the post of president and prime minister, and any dispute on policy between the two could cause a deadlock and spark a political crisis.

Turkey’s political history is scattered with such crises. Unease between President Turgut Ozal and Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel cost Turkey in international relations, and the tension between President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit resulted in economic mayhem.

The system has hosted a series of unstable coalition governments, resulting in a myriad of military coups. The Turkish people have witnessed 65 governments in the Republic of Turkey’s 95 years of existence.

Throughout Turkey’s political history, there have been plots by oligarchies that infiltrated the military and government institutions to carry out coups. July 15 marked the fifth military coup Turkey has survived.

The 2007 referendum was a step taken toward stability, and Sunday’s referendum is an opportunity for the Turkish people to place power firmly within the presidency to reconcile contradictions and inefficiencies within the current system.

The reforms were approved by 339 deputies on Jan. 21, and Erdoğan signed the amendments on Feb. 10. Today, the people will have their say.

Under the proposed changes, the president, vice president(s) and cabinet officials could be investigated by the parliament. The current system has no mechanism that monitors presidential conduct.

The new constitution proposes a streamlined legislative process. The post of prime minister will be abolished and the president will be able to issue laws by decree concerning specific areas of executive power. The parliament will be able to declare a decree void, and presidential decrees will be monitored by Parliament and the Constitutional Court.

The president will appoint four members to the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors, Turkey’s highest legal body responsible for the judicial system, which is the same number as the president appoints now, and the Parliament will appoint the remaining members. The number of members will be reduced from 17 to 15.

The new constitution would also abolish military commissions and courts, which were the remnants of an outdated constitution written by coup plotting generals. This is perhaps one of the most significant of the proposed changes, because for the first time in Turkey’s history the judiciary would be completely under civilian control. The Cabinet will also be abolished but ministers will remain.

The president will also be able to appoint presidential aides and ministers and also unseat them.

Turgut Özal, Süleyman Demirel and Tansu Ciller are among former leaders who called for similar reform under a presidential system.

The age of candidacy for Parliament would be lowered from 25 to 18, and the total number of parliamentarians will increase from 550 to 600 in order to better represent the growing population.