Turkey's Opposition pledges to strip President of powers
The Hindu
The six parties united against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also pledged to agree on a joint candidate in the crucial vote on February 13
Turkey's Opposition vowed on Monday to crimp the president's powers and expand democratic rights, as it unveiled its long-awaited platform for the May 14 presidential and legislative polls.
The six parties united against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also pledged to agree on a joint candidate in the crucial vote – widely seen as Turkey's most consequential in generations – on February 13.
The Opposition's 2,300-point programme aims to roll back many of the powers Mr. Erdogan has amassed over his two-decade rule.
"We will shift to a strengthened parliamentary system," the programme says. "We will put an end to the president's power to issue decrees."
Erdogan began his rule in 2003 as Prime Minister and was elected President – then a far less powerful post – when his mandates ran out in 2014.
He then rammed through constitutional changes in 2017 that eliminated the premiership and created a powerful new executive that allowed the President to effectively rule by decree.
The opposition pledged to change the constitution back to the way things worked throughout most of Turkey's post-Ottoman history.