After 20 Years, Turkey Might Come Back to A Full Democracy

On March 6, 2023, the Nation Alliance in Turkey has announced the roadmap of the “Transition to a Strengthened Parliamentary System” that its leaders have agreed upon. This text approved by the six opposition parties that form the alliance is a sign that Turkey might be on its way to becoming a democracy again after 20 years of increasingly authoritarian rule by the Justice and Development Party (Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP). The alliance has also officially announced their joint presidential candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu who is the head of largest opposition party.

Turkey may become of those rare cases where a country experiences a democratic turnback.

The “Nation Alliance” is the coalition group of six opposition parties in Turkey consisting of the Republican People’s Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP), Good Party (Turkish: İYİ Parti), Felicity Party (Turkish: Saadet Partisi, SP), Democracy and Progress Party (Turkish: Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi, DEVA), Democrat Party (Turkish: Demokrat Parti, DP) and Future Party (Turkish: Gelecek Partisi, GP). The government of AKP is partnered with the Nationalist Movement Party (Turkish: Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) in an alliance called “People’s Alliance”.

Due to the immense economic downturn and the large scale of corruption made visible by the recent earthquakes that struck in February near the Syrian border, the People’s Alliance is expected to lose the general elections to be held on June 18 at the latest. The fırst ballot for the presidential election will be also held on the same day as the general elections. The incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will face CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Founded as a parliamentarian democracy, Turkey had switched to an American-style presidential system with extensive executive powers allocated to the president in a 2017 referandum. The overcentralization of power coupled with the erosion of checks and balances has led to the current president becoming the central figure in all aspects of governance, leading to bottlenecks in decision making, especially in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes where citizens were left without state support. Possibly as an attempt to remedy this current situation, the opposition party leaders promised a transition back to parliamentarian system with a symbolic president and a well-checked prime minister. This transition is towards a new system called the “Strengthened Parliamentary System” and the leaders who came together under the umbrella of the Nation Alliance all signed the “Road Map of the Transition Process to the Strengthened Parliamentary System” in support.

There are twelve principles of this roadmap as stated below.

1. We shall govern Turkey during the Transition Process via consultation and consensus, within the framework of the constitution, law, separation of powers, balance and supervision principles, in line with the principles and objectives of the Strengthened Parliamentary System and the reference texts we have agreed upon.
2. Constitutional amendments regarding the transition to the Strengthened Parliamentary System shall be completed and entered into force as soon as the make-up of the Turkish General National Assembly is determined in the general election.
3. During the Transition Process, the leaders of the parties included in the Nation Alliance shall be Vice Presidents.
4. The distribution of ministries shall be determined according to the number of deputies elected from the political parties forming the Nation Alliance in the general parliamentary elections. Each of the alliance parties shall be represented by at least one minister in the cabinet. Policy Boards and offices within the Presidency established in parallel with the ministries shall be abolished.
5. Appointment and dismissal of ministers shall be made by the President in agreement with the chairperson of the political party to which they belong.
6. During the Transition Process, the President shall use his/her executive power and duty in accordance with the principles of participation, consultation, and consensus.
7. The distribution of powers and duties to the Presidential Cabinet (Vice Presidents and Ministers) shall be determined by the Presidential decree to be issued within the framework of the Constitution and laws.
8. President shall make decisions regarding the renewal of elections, declaration of state of emergency, national security policies, Presidential Decisions, Decrees and general regulatory procedures and high-level appointments in consensus with the leaders of the parties included in the Nation Alliance.
9. Mechanisms shall be established to coordinate the co-operation of legislative activities during the Transition Process.
10. With the completion of the transition to the Strengthened Parliamentary System, the political party membership of the current President, if any, shall come to an end.
11. After the transition to the Strengthened Parliamentary System, the 13th President and the Turkish Grand National Assembly shall complete their mandate without the need for a new election.
12. The Istanbul and Ankara Metropolitan Mayors shall be appointed as Vice Presidents with defined duties at the time deemed appropriate by the Honorable President.

According to the 12th article of the text, the Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş will become Vice Presidents at the appropriate time. The popularity of these two mayors who are members of CHP had become a source of crisis when the leader of Good Party tried to have either of them run for presidency instead of the leader of CHP. This move was heavily criticized for its timing and the potential damage it could deal to the opposition which may lead to losing the elections.

However, if CHP leader and the presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu indeed carries the opposition to victory in the elections, Turkey may become one of the rare cases where a country caught in populist politics with democratic backsliding trends is able to return to a more democratic state. This possibility is something I — as both a political scientist and a citizen of Republic of Turkey — look forward to becoming a reality this year.

Source: Cumhuriyet (Turkish)