Ankara, April 29: A set of amendments to Turkey’s constitution appeared headed for a referendum after securing backing from a majority of lawmakers in a rancorous debate that ended Thursday.
The 27 articles in the government-sponsored package, which aims to curb the powers of key judicial bodies long at odds with the ruling party, won a majority in an initial round of voting but fell just short of the threshold needed for its automatic adoption.
If the result is repeated in a vote on the final reading of the bill, expected to begin Sunday, the measure will then be put to a referendum.
The debate, which began on April 19, was marred by frequent rows and saw the opposition use all means to hamper the sessions.
The opposition charges the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) designed the amendments to weaken top judicial bodies, currently dominated by staunch pro-Army figures.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party has threatened to take the amendments to the Constitutional Court.
The AKP rejects the accusations, insisting the amendments would bring Turkish law closer to the democracy norms of the European Union, which the country is seeking to join.
The party holds 336 seats in the 550-seat parliament.
A key amendment in the package would change the composition of a body dealing with judiciary appointments and disciplinary measures, and the way its members are elected.
Another proposal would make it harder to ban political parties by requiring the approval of a parliamentary commission for prosecutors to begin closure cases before the Constitutional Court.
In 2008, the AKP faced being outlawed for allegedly “violating” Turkey’s secular system.
The AKP hastily drafted the package last month amid speculation the chief prosecutor might open a fresh closure case against the party.
Turkey’s top courts have often infuriated the AKP by blocking measures aimed at pleasing the party’s grassroots, among them a bill that would have lifted a ban on the headscarf in universities.
Other amendments aim to limit the jurisdiction of military courts and allow civilian courts to try military personnel in peace time for coup attempts.
Meanwhile, a Turkish prosecutor has rejected a demand to investigate the wives of the president and prime minister for wearing a headscarf at official functions, media reports said Thursday.
A group had complained that Hayrunnisa Gul, the wife of President Abdullah Gul, and Emine Erdogan, spouse of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, committed a crime by attending official visits abroad and national day ceremonies at home while wearing a religious headscarf.
The Ankara prosecutor said there was no grounds for an investigation since the Turkish penal code did not define the alleged transgressions as a crime, the reports said.
The leaders’ wives cover their hair with stylish headscarves on account of their religious beliefs.
The ruling party says the ban on the garment violates freedom of conscience.
—Agencies