By IINA,
Ankara : Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Constitutional Court of violating the Constitution by exceeding its authority, the limits of which are set by law. He stated that Parliament’s legislative powers, granted by the Constitution, cannot be taken away in any way and that Parliament cannot transfer its authority to a third party, Today’s Zaman reported. “The Constitution states that legislative power belongs only and exclusively to elected parliaments. No one can take away the power the Constitution has given to our esteemed Parliament,” he said. Speaking at his party’s parliamentary group meeting here yesterday, Erdogan shared with his deputies his comments on the Constitutional Court’s ruling last Thursday which annulled a Constitutional amendment — passed in Parliament in May with 411 deputies voting in favor — that would have ended a long-standing ban on wearing the Muslim headscarf at universities.
A regime crisis has come about as a result of a disturbed balance between the legislative and judicial powers, a consequence of the Constitutional Court’s decision, which experts and the government say has inflicted significant damage on the country’s parliamentary democratic system. The move has largely been accepted to mean that the court is positioning itself above Parliament as a legislative organ. The headscarf ruling also gives a clue about the future of a separate case under way that seeks to close the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for anti-secular activities and ban 70 of its members, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, in addition to the country’s president, from belonging to a political party for five years. “Turkey’s principle of ‘Sovereignty belongs to the nation’ emerged here on April 23, 1920,” Erdogan said in the opening of his speech, highlighting the historical meaning of Parliament. He said Parliament had never been bound to anyone’s will other than that of the nation throughout its history.
“This Parliament, which has been the symbol of our independence, has never accepted a custodian or a shadow over it — nor will it accept such a thing now,” Erdogan told his deputies. The prime minister also addressed voters and leaders of opposition parties during yesterday’s speech. He said he was greeting not only the AK Party and its voters, but every party and individual who listens “to one’s conscience” for social peace, national solidarity and democracy. Erdogan said none of Turkey’s problems were unsolvable. “Individual incidents and seasonal problems cannot change our direction,” he said, emphasizing that the nation has already set its course. He said the nation wanted justice in its own country and under its own flag from its rulers. “Nothing more and nothing less: justice and democracy,” he said. Erdogan accused the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of “taking initiatives and efforts to weaken Parliament from within.”
He said crossing the line of legitimacy in politics and engaging in destructive policies instead of constructive ones benefited neither Turkey’s politicians nor its politics as an institution. “We are going through such a test. Undoubtedly, all of this is happening right before our nation’s eyes. This nation is making note of all that is happening today.” He said the CHP was engaging in policies against the nation, democracy and universal principles of law, damaging the country. Erdogan said although the 1982 Constitution was being vehemently criticized in public debate, all actors and agencies had to abide by it. “The 1982 Constitution is currently in force, and it is binding on us all, whether we like it or not,” he said. He warned that larger problems would emerge if people acted as if the provisions set forth by the Constitution do not exist.
The prime minister said the country could not afford to experience a clash of the three powers, adding that he recommends members of his party frequently refer to the Constitution. “Article 6 of the Constitution defines the concept of sovereignty, Article 7 regulates the authority to legislate and Article 148 describes the duties of the Constitutional Court. We should read all of these not through an ideological lens but under the light of the universal principles of law. We should read them so and implement them accordingly.”
The prime minister said Article 6 of the Constitution clearly states that “sovereignty belongs to the nation under all conditions.” Article 7 entrusts the untranslatable power to legislate on behalf of the Turkish nation to Parliament. He said when the legislature makes mistakes, they are blocked by the judiciary. “If not, the nation will block them at the ballot box. But where does a mistake of the judiciary get corrected? We are seeing now that this question is being debated by the public.”
Erdogan said the major party responsible for the situation Turkey is in today is the CHP. “The CHP is the prime cause of this situation, in my opinion. No one has the right to bring the judiciary into a discussion and make it an aside of such a discussion,” he said, asserting that the situation was the result of the CHP’s tenacious efforts to spark a conflict between the judiciary and the legislature. The CHP was one of the two political parties that appealed the headscarf amendment shortly after it was passed by Parliament on February 9. The separation of powers is a fundamental pillar of a parliamentary democracy, the prime minister said, emphasizing that no institution can position itself above the Constitution.
The prime minister also said the Constitutional Court must explain its decision overturning the headscarf amendment. Erdogan reiterated that the court was not authorized to examine the content of constitutional amendments and that it should only look at the technical aspects of the reform. “The Constitutional Court must certainly explain why it examined the content of the reform in the [headscarf] case,” he said.
Meanwhile, the AK Party during its group meeting yesterday decided not to call for a parliamentary recess until the Constitutional Court announces its ruling on a case that seeks to have the party closed over allegations that it is working to establish an Islamic state, charges the ruling party strongly denies.