18 January 2017•Update: 19 January 2017
By Alper Atalay and Coskun Ergul
ANKARA
Turkey's parliament Wednesday adopted the first, second, and third articles of a new constitutional reform package before a referendum likely to be held in April.
The second round of voting began Wednesday after almost three weeks of debates at the parliament.
The first round of voting over the constitutional reforms was completed with the parliament passing a total of 18 articles -- each with over 340 yes votes.
Lawmakers are going to the polls again to vote on each article for a second time and on the entire package.
On Article 1, 345 of 550 lawmakers voted in favor to pass the measure, while 140 rejected the motion; one paper was left blank; 64 lawmakers were absent.
It changes the ninth article of the Constitution – "the judicial power shall be exercised by independent courts on behalf of the Turkish Nation" – to read "independent and impartial courts".
The second item of the package increases the number of lawmakers from 550 to 600 in accordance with the rising population.
A total of 480 lawmakers took part in the second ballot. It passed with 342 votes in favor, 139 against, four blank ballots; 65 lawmakers were absent.
Article 3, which lowers the age of candidacy for parliament from 25 to 18, passed with 342 'Yes' votes while 137 rejected the motion; three papers were left blank and three were invalid.
Voting on the remaining 15 amendments will continue late on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
If the entire package passes the parliament with votes of at least 330 of 550 deputies, the new articles will be put to vote in a national referendum.
If the reforms obtain the support of 367 lawmakers, it can pass into law without a referendum although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would push for a referendum even if the draft is approved by the two-thirds majority.
Proposed changes to the constitution require a simple majority (51 percent).
The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has 316 seats and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) -- which has so far supported the constitutional change -- has 39 seats.
The 'Yes' votes from the two parties would be enough to secure a referendum, which is likely to be held at the beginning of April.
