Constitution should be for all: Turkey’s CHP leader

By Fatih Mehmet Kurkcu

AMASYA, Turkey

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said Wednesday that a constitution should embrace the whole nation rather than boosting the powers of a single person.

"The constitution should be the constitution of all of us. It should be the constitution for those who don’t think like me," Kilicdaroglu said during his first public campaign in the northern province of Amasya on the April 16 constitutional referendum.

The main opposition leader added that the constitution should be a "document of consensus", and the "common denominator for all of us".

Kilicdaroglu said the proposed amendments would give unlimited power to the president, such as dismissing the parliament whenever he wanted.

"A single person should not be given so much authority," he said.

He also said the new system – which would change the current parliamentary system to a presidential one – would not ensure the neutrality of the president, allowing him/her to keep his/her political ties.

"A president must be impartial," he stressed.

He urged the crowd to vote against the reform package saying “This is not a party matter. This is an issue of our country. "Be

cause the constitution is not a party constitution. It is a constitution for all of us."

Kilicdaroglu added that according to the proposed model, none of the ministers or vice presidents would be members of the parliament, but would enjoy parliamentary immunity.

The constitutional changes have been discussed since Recep Tayyip Erdogan was voted president in August 2014. The 18-article bill was passed by parliament in January, with 339 votes in favor -- nine more than needed to put the proposal to a referendum.

The reforms would hand wide-ranging executive powers to the president and the post of prime minister would be abolished. The president would also be allowed to retain ties to a political party.

Other changes would see the minimum age for parliamentary candidates reduced to 18 and the number of deputies rise to 600. Simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections for a five-year term would be held in November 2019 under the new constitution.