Turkey closer to expanding powers for President Erdogan

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses local administrators in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. (Kayhan Ozer, Presidential Press Service))

ISTANBUL -- Turkey's ruling party submitted legislation on Saturday proposed constitutional amendment that could expand the powers and extend the mandate of the country's president.

Private news channel NTV channel on broadcast images of the speaker of parliament receiving the proposal which garnered 316 supporting signatures from the 550-seat assembly.

If cleared by a constitutional committee and approved by parliament, the reforms would pave the way for a referendum on granting the largely ceremonial presidency full executive powers.

The amendments were proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, with the newly won agreement of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

AKP Secretary General Abdulhamit Gul said the bill reflected "a national agreement, a proposition based on Turkey's needs and experience of government, proposed by two parties."

The country has faced a tumultuous year, rocked by a wave of bombings, renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels in the southeast, and a failed coup attempt.

The July 15 coup attempt, blamed by Ankara on the movement of U.S.-based cleric, set the stage for a sweeping purge of state institutions that alarmed rights groups and Western governments.

Critics fears the suggested reforms would allow Erdogan, who has retained outsized influence over his party and the levers of government, to rule unchecked.

Turkey is a key member in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group but at odds with Western governments over the role of Syrian Kurds in that fight.

Erdogan, who was prime minister before becoming the president in 2014, has been pushing for the constitutional overhaul and a presidential system.

The draft bill, according to media reports, proposes local elections for March 2019 and a presidential election and general election for November 2019.

In addition to concentrating executive powers in the hands of the president, it reduces the age of political candidacy to 18.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the proposed constitutional amendment would be reviewed by the four political parties and the government over two parliamentary sessions.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters that each article would be voted on separately and require 330 votes for approval, then the entirety of the bill would be voted on.

"The final decision will be given by the nation," he said. "We are starting a process that will bring strong political power that also comes with stability."