Democracy loses in Turkey
THE best thing that can be said about Turkey’s constitutional referendum is that many voters – 48.7 percent of those casting ballots – opposed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most outrageous move yet to solidify his autocratic rule.
Erdogan, who had expected to win 60 percent of the vote on Sunday, lost the major cities of Ankara and Istanbul. His legitimacy was further eroded by allegations of voting irregularities from international monitors.
Even so, his victory is expected to prevail in the final count, leaving Turkey in the hands of an erratic and vengeful man, and the world wondering whether a nation that for decades has served as a crucial bridge between Europe and the Muslim world can possibly have a stable future.
The referendum culminated in Erdogan’s long efforts to replace Turkey’s parliamentary system with a strong presidency. And while the changes won’t formally take effect until the 2019 presidential election, the outcome tightened his already strong grip and allowed him to boast of “enacting the most important governmental reform of our history”.
Important, yes, but not in a good way. By revising or repealing 76 articles in Turkey’s constitution, adopted in 1982, the referendum abolishes the post of prime minister and transfers executive power to the president. It allows the president to issue decrees and declare states of emergency, and to appoint ministers, senior government officials and half the members of Turkey’s highest judicial body.
“The referendum took place in a political environment in which fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed under the state of emergency, and the two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters,” said Tana de Zulueta, who headed the international election observation mission.
The White House announced that President Trump called on Monday to congratulate Erdogan on the referendum result – a shocking response.
Ultimately, if democracy is to revive in Turkey, it will do so because millions of Turks do not want the authoritarian system Erdogan has imposed.