Turkey discusses transition to semi-presidential form of government

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party is discussing the transition of the republic to a semi-presidential form of government as part of planned constitutional reforms.

The newspaper Ekonomim made this claim.

The expediency of transitioning to a mixed system combining features of presidential and parliamentary republics is motivated by the need to strengthen parliament and ensure a majority for the ruling party in it. As part of the reforms, in particular, it is proposed to switch to a single-mandate electoral system. According to Ekonomim, this issue was raised by representatives of the Turkish Foundation for Democracy at a recent meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The authorities have not yet commented on the newspaper's publication; Erdogan himself has repeatedly stated earlier that he considers the debate on the possibility of returning the republic from a presidential form of government to a parliamentary one useless.

Turkey switched to a presidential system in 2018 after the adoption of constitutional amendments in a nationwide referendum in 2017.

Source: TASS