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| Europe |
| Turkey MPs back reforms package |
| 2007-06-01 |
| The Turkish parliament has backed a package of constitutional reforms that will allow the president to be elected by by popular vote. It was the second time that the bill had been voted on after Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the outgoing president, rejected it last week. On Thursday, the amendments received the support of 370 deputies in the 550-seat house, which is dominated by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister. At present, parliament elects the head of state and Erdgoan says the changes will improve democracy. The bill now returns to Sezer for signing. He cannot veto the amendments a second time but can put them to a referendum. Sezer said last week that the haste with which the reforms were introduced would lead to "a deviation from the parliamentary system" and "create far-reaching, irreparable problems". |
| Posted by:Fred |