Turkey was a key step closer on Monday to dramatically expanding the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after parliament approved, on first reading, a bill critics fear will lead to one-man rule.
The parliament backed the two final sections of the 18-article new constitution late Sunday after a marathon week of debating that began on Jan. 9 and included sessions that often lasted late into the night.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) mustered the necessary 330 or more votes — a three-fifths majority — needed to adopt the constitutional change and send it to a referendum for final approval.
The constitution plan will now go to a second reading in the Ankara parliament expected to start on Wednesday where the 18 articles will again be debated one by one.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus wrote on Twitter that with the changes “God willing, Turkey will reach a more efficient governance model.”
The proposed changes, which would create an executive presidency for the first time in modern Turkey, are controversial and far-reaching.
The president would have the power to appoint and fire ministers, while the post of prime minister will be abolished for the first time in Turkey’s history.
Instead, there would be a vice president, or possibly several.
The changes are opposed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The third largest party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is boycotting the vote.
Opponents have accused Erdogan of marching toward authoritarian rule and seeking total control in the aftermath of the failed July 15 coup aimed at ousting him from power.
“The constitutional changes pressed by the ruling party are not good news for Turkey,” Faruk Logoglu, former deputy leader of the CHP, told AFP.
He claimed the plan would prove problematic on a wide range of issues from democracy to judicial independence.
Authorities insist that the changes are needed to make government more efficient and would be little different to the presidential systems in the United States or France.

Source : Arab News