SAO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS)-Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday (27) the appointment of a team of jurists to write a new constitution. The measure could pave a legal way to stay in office after the end of its current term in 2028 – the last allowed by the current letter.
initially as Prime Minister and later as president since 2014. He argues that the current letter, written after the 1980 military coup, is outdated and still carries authoritarian remnants.
“Since yesterday, I have designated ten legal experts to begin work and, with this effort, we will advance in the preparation of a new constitution,” Erdogan told a speech to local leaders of his party, justice and development (AKP).
“We want a new constitution not to us, but to our country. I do not want to be reelected or compete again. What worries us is how to further strengthen the dignity and reputation of our country in the international scenario,” he said.
The opposition, however, sees the movement as another attempt to concentrate power and undermine democracy. By the letter in force, Erdogan cannot dispute another mandate – unless early elections are convened. Critics see in the proposal an attempt to circumvent this impediment, creating a legal basis for him to compete again -what the president denies.
His party and nationalist allies do not have the necessary votes in Parliament to approve a new constitution on his own. Analysts estimate that recent advances in peaceful negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the disarmament of the group can be part of a strategy to raise the support of parties pro-courses to the new constitutional text.
Two months ago, Turkish police arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul and probable president’s probable opponent in the next elections. The arrest shook the markets – Turkish Lira fell to a minimum historical level – and was extremely unpopular among the population. A survey indicated that 65% of people disapproved of the action, and thousands went to the streets.
Reelected in March 2024, when opposition advanced in the main municipalities, Imamoglu is considered a leader with enough political capital to catalyze the aversion of some sectors to the reform of the Constitution.
Turkey has been a parliamentary democracy since its inception in 1923, but Erdogan changed it in 2017, adopting the presidential system. With this, the president is the head of state and exercises the executive branch, with the possibility of two consecutive terms of five years. Already the post of prime minister was abolished.
