Erdoğan’s ‘presidential system fancy’ actualized ‘unofficially'

SEBAHAT KARAKOYUN / sebahatkarakoyun@birgun.net
@ssenyaprak

After having been elected as the President on 10 August 2014 and having given his oath at the Grand National Assembly, Erdoğan has not kept away from expressing his fancy over the ‘presidential system’ and actualizing this model since then.

Disregarding the ‘impartiality’ principle stated in the Constitution, Erdoğan had first appointed Davutoğlu as the Chair of AKP; then, after being dissatisfied with Davutoğlu’s performance throughout his 21 months long term, Erdoğan ‘appointed’ Binali Yıldırım in place of Davutoğlu.

Furthermore, he had gone out to public meetings during the two general elections that were held meanwhile, and, carried out ‘party campaign’ despite all the reactions. After AKP government had lost in the first elections, Erdoğan stood against formation of a coalition government and led the country to a second round of elections on November 1st.

And, once he achieved the results he desired, he has taken all sorts of steps by breaching the system in order to actualize his dream of ‘one man regime.’

Erdoğan has broken a record in convening Council Ministers

While the frequency of the conventions of Council of Ministers under the leadership of the president has increased dramatically in Erdoğan’s presidency, the ‘Security Summits’ – held with the participation of Chief of General Staff, MİT Chief, and relevant ministers – have also become a routine, especially after Binali Yıldırım has taken on the duty of Prime Ministry.

Five former presidents had convened the Council 17 times in total

While the 8th President Turgut Özal had convened the Council of Ministers 7 times, 7th President Kenan Evren had done it 4 times; 4th President Cemal Gürsel , 6th President Fahri Korutürk and 9th President Süleyman Demirel had each held it twice under their terms. On the other hand, President Erdoğan has led the Council 9 times only within the past two years. In addition to leading the Council of Ministers, President Erdoğan has also held a ‘Security Summit’, with the attendance of Chief of General Staff, MİT Chief, ministers, and bureaucrats 10 times.

Going hand in hand with Prime Minister Yıldırım

The number of meetings held under the leadership of Erdoğan has increased rapidly since Binali Yıldırım became the Prime Minister on May 25th of this year. While the cabinet had convened only 3 times throughout the 21 months long term of the former PM Davutoğlu, this number has increased to 5 only within the first three months of Yıldırım’s taking over the position. During this first three months, the Council of Ministers has convened 9 times. Furthermore, three security summits have been held, so far, at the ‘Presidential Palace’ during PM Yıldırım’s term.

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/baskanligin-sadece-adi-eksik-127299.html