Turkey's bill on shift to presidential system

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development, or AK, Party has sought to introduce a presidential system to replace the current parliamentary model since Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first head of state elected by popular vote in August 2014.

The legislative proposal - expected to be submitted to the Parliament Speaker's office next week - will first be referred to the Constitutional Committee.

The proposal will be presented at the Turkish Parliament's General Assembly after approval by the Committee.

At least one-third of the Turkish Parliament members (184) can propose an amendment of the Constitution.

The proposals on constitutional amendment are discussed at two parliamentary sessions at the General Assembly.

There should be at least a 48-hour-break between the two sessions.

During the first session, four political parties and the government are set to discuss the proposal as a whole and the articles separately, as well as any motions for amendment, while the second session is devoted only to the discussion of motions for amendment of articles.

Any article for which no motion has been submitted for a change at the first session, cannot go under discussion at the second.

The draft needs at least 330 votes by secret ballot in parliament to pave the way for a referendum.

The AK Party, with 316 seats, and the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, with 40, both back the bill.

If the draft constitution gets more than 367 votes, it can pass directly without the need for a referendum. However, the AK Party has said it will hold a referendum, even if none is needed.

In the second tour of proposal talks, any article getting less than 330 votes fails to pass.

Rejected proposals may not be resubmitted for 1 year

Any bills or proposals rejected by parliament can not be resubmitted for one year as of the date of rejection.

The President has the right to return to parliament any bills about constitutional change for further discussion, after having reviewed these bills within 15 days.

Referendum to be held within 60 days

If the two-thirds of the parliament (367) approves the bill, the President can take it to a referendum.

The referendum can be held within 60 days after approval by the President.

More than half of valid votes in the referendum have to be affirmative before a bill on constitutional change can enter into force.