Erhürman criticizes Political Parties Law: I do not find it right in terms of intra-party democracy
President Tufan Erhürman announced that he signed the Political Parties (Amendment) Law, which passed in Parliament, to ensure that the preparations of political parties for the upcoming elections are not adversely affected due to the short time remaining.
Erhürman stated that he does not find the removal of the primary election rule and the uncertainties within the amendment to be right in terms of democracy, particularly intra-party democracy.
President Tufan Erhürman made a press statement regarding the Political Parties (Amendment) Law, which changes the method by which political parties determine their parliamentary candidates.
Recalling that election prohibitions have come into force and very little time remains until the elections, Erhürman noted that the legislative amendment passed by Parliament came before him during a period when political parties are making their final preparations. Erhürman stated that he signed the amendment despite it not sitting well with him, for the reasons explained below.
Erhürman explained that the previous provision of the law stipulated that the candidates and candidate rankings presented by political parties in general parliamentary elections must be determined through democratic primary elections supervised by the High Election Board for each electoral district, where delegates or members in that district vote in accordance with party bylaws.
Noting that the former regulation also stipulated that candidates could be determined by the Party Assembly under exceptional circumstances defined in party bylaws, Erhürman stated that this arrangement pointed to primaries as the rule and the Party Assembly as the exception.
He conveyed that the new regulation is as follows: “Political parties determine the candidates they will present in general parliamentary elections in the manner specified in their party bylaws and regulations, provided that it is supervised by the High Election Board and complies with democratic principles.”
Erhürman stated that with the new regulation, both the primary election rule and the provision foreseeing the intervention of the Party Assembly in exceptional circumstances have been removed.
Stating that he does not find it right to make such a regulation so close to the election and that the amendment contains clear ambiguities, Erhürman used the following expressions: “I must openly state that I do not find it right—neither that such a regulation has been made so close to the election, nor that the amendment contains such clear ambiguity—in terms of democracy, especially the principle of intra-party democracy.”
Erhürman stated that despite this, he did not exercise his authority to return the legislative amendment to Parliament.
Pointing out that the time that would pass in such a scenario could negatively affect the election preparations and work of many political parties, Erhürman stated that it was clear this would create another problem and debate within the framework of the principle of democracy.
Stating that he hopes parties choosing not to hold primaries will at least conduct voting in their Party Assemblies, even if the legal amendment does not make it mandatory, Erhürman expressed his wish that similar changes to election laws will not be made immediately before elections in the future.
Erhürman concluded his statement with the following words: “And I hope that, regardless of the election outcome, there will be no question of making such hurried changes to election laws immediately prior to any election from now on. (Unfortunately, I am making this statement solely to put a note on record and as a warning for the future).”
