Tension grows during parliamentary debates on constitutional changes in Turkey
As parliamentary debate over the controversial constitutional amendments package proposed by Turkey’s ruling party AKP continues, tension grows.
Today, on the third day of the debates and the voting on the items of the proposed package, the arguments between the members of the parliament turned into a fistfight.
A woman MP from main opposition party CHP, Fatma Kaplan Hürriyet, was physically assaulted while she was trying to record the fight on her phone's camera. Speaking about it on the platform afterwards, Hürriyet condemned the assault and criticized the ruling party MPs harshly by saying "Down with your palace, president, and your constitution."
With Speaker’s command, the fight and arguments were managed to be stopped and voting continued after a 10 minutes break.
The items being discussed today are the following: lowering the age of eligibilty for becoming an MP to 18 from 25; changing the MP terms from 4 years to 5 years and arranging the MP elections and presidential election to be held on the same dates; and, lifting the power of the legislative branch to check on and monitor the Council of Ministers and to give it authority to pass decrees when found necessary.
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/anayasa-degisikligi-teklifi-gorusmelerinde-3-gun-142777.html