ANKARA, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey's outgoing president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, proposed Friday a referendum on constitutional amendments that would allow presidents to be elected by national vote, rather than by parliament, the country's NTV television said.
Parliament approved amendments in late May allowing a direct popular election, overriding an earlier presidential veto of the bill. The president cannot veto the move twice.
If Turkey votes in favor of popular election, it will be held at least 40 days after early parliamentary polls, scheduled for July 22.
The reform was initiated by the ruling party led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the Constitutional Court, supporting the secular opposition, blocked a parliamentary vote April 27, and the only presidential contender, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, withdrew his candidacy.
Erdogan also called early parliamentary polls in a bid to defuse tensions between the Islamic and secular political groups in Turkey.
The proposed amendments also envision a five-year, rather than the present seven-year, tenure for presidents who could serve two terms in a row. And a shorter, four-year, instead of the current five-year, term for the legislature, and a quorum of one-third, rather than the current two-thirds, of votes in the 550-member parliament.
