Date set for Turkish referendum on expanding presidential powers

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Istanbul, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. Turkey's electoral board on Saturday confirmed April 16 as the date of a national referendum on eShow more

ANKARA // Turkey’s electoral board on Saturday confirmed April 16 as the date of a national referendum on expanding the president’s powers.

The head of the High Electoral Board, Sadi Guven, announced the referendum date a day after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed off on the constitutional changes aimed at creating a presidency with executive powers, which were passed by parliament last month.

Mr Guven said 55 million people in Turkey and close to 3 million Turks living abroad would be eligible to vote.

But with Turkey’s opposition media largely silenced, opponents of the constitutional changes complain that they cannot get their views across.

“The referendum process will not take place under fair conditions. We know that the [pro-government media] will continue to act as though the opposition does not exist,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party.

Mr Kilicdaroglu said he remained hopeful that a “no” vote would prevail.

“We know that it won’t be a just referendum, but despite everything, I have trust in the people’s conscience, foresight and common sense,” he said.

The proposed constitutional reform would give the president powers to appoint government ministers and senior officials, dissolve parliament, declare states of emergency, issue decrees and appoint half of the members in the country’s highest judicial body. It would also increase the number of parliamentarians from 550 to 600 and lower the age of eligibility for parliamentary office from 25 to 18.

It could also see Mr Erdogan remain in power in the Nato member state until 2029.

Mr Erdogan’s supporters see the plans as a guarantee of stability at a time of turmoil, with Turkey’s security threatened by the wars in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, and by a spate of ISIL and Kurdish militant attacks.

Opponents fear a lurch towards authoritarianism in a nation which has seen tens of thousands of people, from teachers and journalists to soldiers and police, detained since a coup attempt last July.

Seeking the support of nationalist voters, Mr Erdogan has warned that those who vote against the changes will strengthen Turkey’s enemies, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which has fought the state for more than three decades from camps in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq.

“Who says no? The PKK says no. Who says No? Qandil says no. Who says no? Those who want to divide this country say no. Those who are against our flag say no,” Mr Erdogan told members of a pro-government think tank in Istanbul on Saturday, his speech frequently interrupted by chants of his name from the conference hall.

The executive presidency was needed, Mr Erdogan said, to avoid the fragile parliamentary coalitions of the past. He said the 65 governments in the 93 years of the modern Turkish republic had each lasted an average of just 16 months.

* Associated Press and Reuters