Political transformation

The process is underway to fundamentally restructure Turkey’s democracy

There will be substantial changes to Turkey’s administrative system after the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2019. With the end of the parliamentary system, public administration will be restructured from scratch, a process the AK Party has begun to study with the establishment of five separate commissions: ‘Structuring Executive Power’, which will determine how power will be distributed at the top once the office of the Prime Minister is eliminated, ‘Public Personnel Regime Commission’, ‘Local Governments Commission’, ‘Adaptation of Political Parties and Election Regulatory Commission’ and ‘Parliamentary Bylaw Commission’. These commissions held their first meeting on January 17. Another meeting is scheduled for April 13 after which they will hold a meeting with the AK Party Chairman and President Erdogan, on April 19. Following this meeting, the Commissions are expected to finalize the adjustment laws. For its part, the AK Party’s alliance partner, the MHP, has demanded the new laws first be sent to the Grand National Assembly before the beginning of the new term.

Publ c personnel reg me to change

The restructuring of the executive power, adoption of the Presidential system and the restructuring of the ministries, all areas that will have significant impacts on Turkey’s governance, will be a focus of the studies. The Public Personnel Regime Commission will study new regulations regarding the procedure, assignment, transitions, duties and responsibilities of senior public officials. The Local Authorities Commission will determine the legal arrangements needed for the changes in municipality structures, special provincial administrations and neighborhood units (mukhtars) by eliminating legislation that creates obstacles for the new system. The Adaptation of Political Parties and Election Regulatory Commission will review electoral legislation according to the new system while the Parliamentary Bylaw Commission will work on new bylaws that regulate the functioning of parliament and its internal relations.

The bloated state w ll be tr mmed

Sources in Ankara say the Public Personnel Regime Commission will look at ways to trim the bloated public service while laws will be adopted that allow for general managers and superiors to be appointed by the President. Senior positions in the bureaucracy can also be appointed from the private sector. Other trimming measures may include the removal, consolidation or division of some ministries in the new government system.