"The philosophy of the republic should be important for us, because those people, who built it, paid a high price in order to leave a better Turkey for their children and grandchildren. That is why we must take care of it. We will defend the democratic parliamentary system. It is unacceptable when one person says — 'I have the majority, and I will change the system.'" CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said at a meeting.
In November, Turkey’s Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroglu said that a new constitution draft, elaborated by the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was likely to be put to a referendum next spring.
Under the new constitution there would be no prime minister in the political system, while the president would be a member of a political party.
The draft is supported by the AKP, holding 316 seats, and the MHP, with 40 seats in the parliament. The CHP and pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) oppose the initiative, blaming President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for seeking to establish a one-man rule.
In order to secure a referendum to replace the parliamentary republic by the presidential system, the constitutional draft needs 330 votes, while it could pass directly without a referendum if approved by more than 367 parliamentarians. However, the AKP announced it would take the constitution to a referendum in any case.
