Erdogan Wins Constitutional “Reforms”, Allowed to Rule Until 2029: Opposition Challenges Vote

With over 97% of the vote counted in the Turkey Referendum, the results are 51.4% Yes and 48.6% no.

The alleged reforms grant Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tremendous say over budgets and the Constitutional Court.

Eddogan can stay in power until 2029.

Erdogan proclaimed victory Sunday evening in Turkey but he fell short of the 55% of the vote he predicted.

Opposition Challenges Vote

The opposition challenges don’t matter. We know who is counting the votes.

The Guardian live report says Most Votes Counted as Erdoğan Lead Narrows.

The CHP, Turkey’s main opposition party, have announced they will be contesting the validity of 60% of the ballots, after unconfirmed reports of large numbers of votes without official stamps.

Three Largest Cities Vote Against Referendum

The Financial Times noted Turkey’s three largest cities (Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and Izmir) voted against the referendum.

“The narrow result came after an uncompromising campaign in which Mr. Erdogan compared his opponents to terrorists, jailed opposition leaders and dominated the airwaves.”

Constitutional “Reforms”

• Prime Minister Position Abolished.
• President is head of state and head of government.
• President Appoints Vice President and Ministries.
• President Appoints 4 members of Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors.
• President Appoints 12 members of Constitutional Court.
• President can dissolve the Parliament but elections held if so.
• President can declare State of Emergency.
• President can make the budget and send to Parliament.
• President can make bylaws about the executive. Bylaws will be examined by the Constitutional Court.
• Parliament has 600 MPs.
• Parliament Appoints 7 members of Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors.
• Parliament appoints 3 members of Constitutional Court.
• Parliament can approve or disprove a State of Emergency.
• Elections held every 5 years for President and Parliament

The above from Wikipedia Turkish Constitutional Reform (2017).

Turkey is “On the Road to Autocracy,” says the Venice Commission, Council of Europe.

Wikipedia definition: An autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of a coup d’état or mass insurrection).

Autocracy is called “reform”.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock