MHP leader slams CHP ahead of meeting

ANKARA

AFP photo

The leaders of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are slated to meet on Jan. 18, hours before parliament will come together for a second round of voting on the constitutional amendment charter. However, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli was quick to criticize CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for his party’s opposition to the amendments. 

“The CHP’s leadership, which has lost its faith in the nation, has blocked the roads leading to the nation’s will,” Bahçeli said on his official Twitter account on Jan. 16, referring to the CHP’s protests in parliament during previous debates on the amendments.
 
“Occupations in parliament, fighting scenes, and political views that lean toward blasphemy and slander will only embarrass their counterparts. The phone numbers of our deputies have been leaked. All kinds of lies and gossips were circulated on social media. The so-called champions of freedom and democracy became despotic and intolerant to suppress the ‘yes’ preference while pushing for ‘no’ votes,” he said.

His comments came after the two were announced to meet to discuss the constitutional amendments. Upon Kılıçdaroğlu’s request, the two had agreed to meet on Jan. 18 at 12 p.m. in parliament, officials sources have confirmed. 

However, after the meeting was confirmed, Bahçeli rebuked the CHP saying that he believed the referendum will be likely and the MHP will not refrain from asking “the nation’s opinion.”

He hinted that the referendum would most likely happen after the second round of talks, which will begin on Jan. 18. 


‘I don’t know what they will discuss’: PM

Asked about the oppositions’ meeting, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said he did not have any information about it. 

“I do not know what they are going to talk about. The first round of the voting was finalized. But taking Mr. Bahçeli’s comments into consideration, what they will talk about becomes more or less apparent,” Yıldırım told reporters on Jan. 17. 

Following the completion of the first round of talks on the early hours of Jan. 16, the second round of talks officially can start after a two-day break, as required by the parliament’s rules of procedure. 

In the second round, lawmakers will cast their final votes for the last articles of the constitutional amendments, deciding on whether they will be enacted or not, following a decisive vote on the entirety of the charter, which will determine whether the amendment will be presented to the public or not.