Turkey: AK Party, MHP set to change parliament's bylaws

By Kubilay Celik, Ismail Cimen, and Alper Atalay

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on Wednesday agreed to changes to a number of parliamentary bylaws.

Speaking to reporters after a six-hour meeting with MHP deputies, Mustafa Elitas, the AK Party’s deputy parliamentary group chairman, said his party presented a 13-item draft to the MHP.

Two items of the draft were dropped during discussions, while six MHP-proposed items were added, he said.

The draft text will be reevaluated by the executive boards of the both parties, and later both sides will meet to finalize the proposal, Elitas added.

“We have made significant progress,” said Erkan Akcay, the MHP’s group deputy chairman.

No details on the content of the changes was given.

This June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for new bylaws to improve parliament’s efficiency.

In a referendum this April, Turkish voters approved a package of constitutional changes handing wide-ranging executive powers to the president and eliminating the post of prime minister, and also allowing the president to retain ties to a political party.

The AK Party and MHP campaigned for approval of the referendum.