Çiçek urges parties to keep charter promise
ANKARA
Çiçek criticizes Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for using very harsh language. AA photo
Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek has urged all parties in Parliament not to forget their promises regarding the new constitution, saying that these four parties are “obliged to renew the constitution,” a few days after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mentioned his party’s “Plan B” for drafting a new charter.Çiçek made this statement in response to a question about Erdoğan’s “Plan B” statement, in an interview with the private NTV news network. Çiçek said all four parties represented in Parliament promised a new constitution to their respective electorates, and “it is their duty to fulfill their commitments.” He urged the parties to compromise in drafting the new charter.
Çiçek also criticized main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for using very harsh language to criticize his decisions during the process of passing the controversial education bill. “Of course, parliamentary speakers can also make mistakes, but what he said was not criticism, but an insult,” Çiçek said.
He was referring to statements Kılıçdaroğlu’s made at the CHP’S parliamentary group meeting, which took the form of a rally in Tandoğan square in protest of the education bill. Kılıçdaroğlu said the way the bill was passed by the Parliament’s Education Commission was unlawful, and Çiçek should therefore have returned the bill to the commission rather than allowing it to proceed to the General Assembly. “Çiçek is not man of his word, we see that,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. “Even assuming I made a mistake, should this kind of language be used by a politician? [He] insulted the Parliament speaker. I remained silent to prevent further debate.” Çiçek said that he “called the chairman [Kılıçdaroğlu] Saturday night,” but “[his] hand was left hanging in the air. All possible glimmers of hope are disappearing because of this harsh language. Everyone should act responsibly.”
Responding to Çiçek immediately, CHP deputy group chair Muharrem İnce said that Çiçek is not impartial in his role as Parliament speaker.
