Will the CHP clean up the AKP’s mess?

Will the CHP clean up the AKP’s mess?

Results of the first round of parliamentary voting on a constitutional amendment to retrospectively lift the political immunities of certain MPs, for one time only, indicates that there will be a referendum soon. 

On the evening of the vote I watched the debates on TV. On pro-government stations, the invited speakers are always chosen from among the government’s supporters and you cannot even hear one opposing voice.

Apart from them, on two other news channels, many of the debaters must have been selected as they were names that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would not outright oppose, or names that are slightly pro-AKP. Anyone who has a different view has not been invited onto mainstream TV station for a long time. 

Debates and talk shows are screened to facilitate the public’s understanding of what is going on, but in Turkey they never invite anyone who may utter any discomforting words or ideas. 

Those who participated in these TV programs who refrained from accusing the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of being “terrorists” – and are thus deemed relatively moderate – generally had the following suggestion: The CHP should act wisely in the second round of voting so that the result does not necessitate a referendum. If a referendum is held then the country would become even more stirred up, a significant portion of the Kurds would experience even more of an emotional breakaway and democratic politics would be harmed.

This is truly an interesting situation. 

This idea of lifting immunity, which is absolutely no good for preventing terror, first came from the presidential palace. The now-dismissed Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu took up the challenge in an bid to win the palace’s favor. Now it is up to the CHP to clean up this mess. 

Of course, the fact that CHP head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has no clue about how to do politics has contributed to this grim situation, but it was the AKP alone that launched this business.   

If the lifting of immunities is to become a referendum question and a serious problem is expected to erupt, then why doesn’t the AKP withdraw its proposal or kill it at parliament? 

We are living in a really interesting country. Why is it up to the CHP to clean the mess that the AKP has created? 


Guys, this is not nice to the ‘teacher’  

Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan spoke after the “tendency survey” conducted within the AKP. 

What they called the “tendency survey” actually functions as follows: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan brings together AKP deputies, mayors, and the heads of AKP provincial and district organizations. He asks them who should lead the party and who should be the prime minister. 

They write their opinions. 

The president collects these papers, burns them in the fireplace, and points to a name that was already in his head. That person becomes the leader of the party and the prime minister, and everyone falls in line.

Ahmet Davutoğlu was selected like that. Everybody wanted Abdullah Gül, but Erdoğan chose Davutoğlu. When he got bored of him, he decided to change him. 

Now, let me go back to Akdoğan’s speech. 

“We will hopefully make our country assume the ‘take-off position’ with the upcoming party convention and the new government. All together we will make our country stand on its feet,” he said. 

Look at this person who served as deputy prime minister under Davutoğlu.

A new government will be formed and the country will fly. So what was the outgoing government doing? Was it dragging the country through the mud? If we were not able to fly with the old government, was not Akdoğan jointly responsible for that? 

Talking like this is not very nice to Davutoğlu. At the very least, it is disgraceful.