Tag Archives: Parliament

Turkish parliament nears approval of presidential system sought by Erdogan

supporters of turkish president erdogan

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey moved closer to adopting a new constitutional bill extending President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers that supporters welcome as a guarantor of stability at a time of turmoil and opponents see as a step toward an authoritarian state.

Parliament ratified the first seven of 18 articles in a second round of voting, putting the assembly on track to approve the package as a whole by Friday night.

Under the new system, Erdogan could rule in the NATO-member and European Union candidate country until 2029.

As debate on the reforms went late into the evening, an independent lawmaker, Aylin Nazliaka, handcuffed herself to the podium in protest against the stronger presidency.

A lawmaker from the ruling AK Party attempted to end the protest by force and deputies from other parties then weighed in, one losing her prosthetic arm in the fracas, witnesses said.

The AK Party, backed by the nationalist MHP, says it will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return to the fragile coalition governments of the past. It would also, they say, help Turkey tackle attacks by Kurdish insurgents and Islamic State militants spilling over from war in Syria.

The reform would enable the president to issue decrees, declare emergency rule, appoint ministers and top state officials and dissolve parliament – powers that the two main opposition parties say strip away balances to Erdogan’s power.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was cited as telling Turkey’s Fox TV: “In the presidential period, when ministers will be appointed from outside, people from and close to the MHP could be appointed as ministers.”

MASS ARRESTS

Erdogan assumed the presidency, a largely ceremonial position, in 2014 after over a decade as prime minister. Since then, pushing his powers to the limit, he has continued to dominate politics by dint of his personal popularity.

Critics accuse him of increasing authoritarianism with the arrests and dismissal of tens of thousands of judges, police, military officers, journalists and academics since a failed military coup in July. Erdogan points to a danger from Islamic State militants and Kurdish insurgents.

The seven articles approved lower the minimum age to be a lawmaker to 18 from 25, raise the number of MPs to 600 from 550 and will result in parliamentary and presidential elections being held together every five years.

The seventh article opens the way for the president to be a member of a political party.

The main opposition CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP, the second largest opposition party, strongly oppose the changes.

The bill needs the support of at least 330 deputies in the assembly to go to a referendum. The AKP has 316 deputies eligible to vote and the MHP 39. So far, articles have generally been approved with at least 340 votes in favor.

A study by Istanbul’s Kadir Has University showed the presidency was rated as Turkey’s most trusted institution, outstripping the army, which normally tops such surveys but whose popularity has fallen after a failed coup in July.

(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker and Ercan Gurses; Writing by Daren Butler and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Janet Lawrence)

UK government expects to lose Brexit trigger case, making contingency plans: report

EU Lisbon Treaty near EU flag

LONDON (Reuters) – The British government expects to lose its legal battle to start the Brexit process without going through parliament, and has drafted versions of a bill to put to lawmakers after the ruling, the Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the next two weeks on whether the government can trigger Article 50 of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, the first formal step toward leaving the bloc, without first getting parliament’s approval.

Citing unnamed sources, the Guardian reported that ministers had privately conceded they were very likely to lose the case, and had drawn up at least two versions of a bill to be presented to parliament after the ruling. [http://bit.ly/2iiL6oP]

The report also said the government had asked the court for early sight of the ruling before it is made public, to allow for contingency planning.

During the Supreme Court hearing in December, government lawyer James Eadie said that if judges ruled parliament had to give its assent to the triggering of Article 50, the solution would be a “one-line” bill.

The Guardian said ministers were hoping the ruling would allow Prime Minister Theresa May to put forward a short bill or motion, narrowly focused on Article 50, to make it difficult for lawmakers to amend.

Those in favor of a clean break with the European Union are concerned that parliament, where a majority of members were in favor of remaining in the bloc, could seek to water down ministers’ plan in pursuit of a so-called “soft Brexit”.

The government’s opponents in the legal battle argued that triggering Article 50 would nullify the 1972 act of parliament that opened the way for Britain to join the EU, and therefore parliament had to give its assent for its act to be undone.

London’s High Court backed that argument, prompting the government to appeal to the Supreme Court, Britain’s highest judicial body, in December.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Michael Holden)

Taliban attack near Afghan parliament kills more than 20

Afghan policement at site of suicide bombing

KABUL (Reuters) – A Taliban suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday killed more than 20 people and wounded at least 20 others, as twin blasts near parliament offices hit a crowded area during the afternoon rush hour.

Saleem Rasouli, a senior public health official, said 23 people had been killed and more than 20 wounded in the attack on the Darul Aman road, near an annexe to the new Indian-financed parliament building.

Another official put the death toll at 21 but said more than 45 had been wounded in the worst attack Kabul has seen in weeks.

The Islamist militant Afghan Taliban movement, which immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, said its target had been a minibus carrying staff from the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency. It put casualties at around 70.

Officials said a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Darul Aman area, and was followed almost immediately by a car bomber in an apparently coordinated operation.

Earlier on Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded nine when he detonated his explosives in a house in the southern province of Helmand used by an NDS unit.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in the 15 years since the Taliban government was brought down in the U.S.-led campaign of 2001.

In July, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that 1,601 civilians had been killed in the first half of the year, a record since it began collating figures in 2009.

(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by James Mackenzie and Mike Collett-White)

Turkish parliament strips MPs of immunity in blow to Kurdish opposition

Pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs react to Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP) as they vote in favor of an article of constitutional change that could see pro-Kurdish and other lawmakers prosecuted at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, May 20, 2016.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s parliament approved the first clause of a bill to lift lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution on Friday, a constitutional change that the pro-Kurdish opposition has warned could see its parliamentary presence all but wiped out.

In a secret ballot, 373 MPs in the 550-seat parliament backed the plan to lift MPs’ immunity from prosecution, a high enough level of support to change the constitution directly without needing to hold a referendum.

The assembly was set to hold two further votes on elements of the bill on Friday which will determine the final outcome.

President Tayyip Erdogan has accused the pro-Kurdish HDP, parliament’s third-biggest party, of being the political wing of Kurdish militants who have waged a three-decade insurgency in the country’s largely Kurdish southeast. The HDP denies this.

Erdogan’s opponents say the lifting of immunities is part of a strategy to push the HDP out of parliament, strengthen the ruling AK Party, and consolidate support in the assembly for the executive presidential system he has long desired.

HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas told Reuters this month that the lifting of immunities was likely to create more violence and stifle democratic politics.

Lawmakers currently enjoy immunity from prosecution. The new law will allow prosecutors to purse members of parliament who currently face investigation: 138 deputies, of whom 101 are from the HDP and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The HDP has said an overwhelming majority of its 59 deputies could be jailed, mostly for views they have expressed, virtually wiping out its parliamentary presence.

(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker and Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall)

Greek PM Trying To Rally Party Before Key Vote

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is attempting to rally his party to gain enough support to pass the second round of key reforms to guarantee a bailout from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The rebellion in Parliament is coming from Tsipras’ own Syriza party, who were elected on a platform of not giving in to European demands for more austerity measures.  Tsipras fought the austerity measures for a significant amount of time before admitting some measures needed to be taken to help Greece turn around their economy.

“We are making an effort to have fewer dissenters,” Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroumplis told Greek TV.

The first vote took place on austerity measures while this second vote is more about procedural operations such as a code of civil protection aimed at speeding up court cases;  the adoption of an EU directive to bolster banks and protect savers’ deposits of less than €100,000 and the introduction of rules that would see bank shareholders and creditors – not taxpayers – cover costs of a failed bank.

The issues that caused most division such as phasing out early retirement were removed from the second round of voting and move to an August vote.

The vote is expected to pass thanks to support from the opposition parties in the Parliament.

Update: Soldier Dead, Gunman Dead In Canadian Rampage

The gunman behind a rampage in downtown Ottawa, Canada is dead along with a soldier shot during the gunman’s initial volley.

The soldier was a ceremonial sentry guarding the National War Memorial.  Ottawa police confirmed the soldier died at the hospital from gunshot wounds.

The gunman, whose name is being withheld by police, died after engaging in a gun battle with Parliament Hill security and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police inside the Centre Block of Parliament Hill.  The battle took place outside the doors where the Conservative and NDP caucuses were meeting.

The gunman was just outside the door where Canada’s Prime Minster, Stephen Harper, was meeting with officials.   Security was able to rush Harper out of a back entrance away from the shooter.

“A series of gunshots rang out and we realized they were right on the other side of the door. And it isn’t a very strong door. We put up these flimsy little tables to get people behind and get them under chairs. We wanted to make sure that everyone was safe,” Member of Parliament Charlie Angus told the Ottawa Citizen.

Witnesses inside Centre Block say between 30 and 50 shots were heard during the gun battle.  Witnesses at the initial shooting site said that the gunman just jumped from a car with a rifle.

“I heard a bunch of pops and I looked over at the War Memorial and I saw a man with a rifle shooting at innocent people,” construction worker Matthew Blais said. “We ducked for cover. Then we saw him jump into a green car and head up the street. He parked right in front of Parliament and ran into the building.”

The attack comes days after an Islamic extremist committed a hit and run attack on Canadian soldiers.

Canada is scheduled to begin bombing runs against ISIS with the United States this week.

Shots Fired in Canadian Parliament Building; Soldier Killed

Police are on the hunt for several suspects after a series of shootings took place in three locations in Ottawa, including the Parliament building.

Witnesses reported a gunman shooting and killing a military guard posted at the National War Museum, then entering the adjacent Parliament building where multiple shots were heard around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. Shots were also reported at the Rideau Centre shopping center, located only a few blocks away from the Parliament building.

The attacks were reported hours after Canada raised its terror threat level due to the death of another soldier on Monday. The soldier was killed by a radical jihadist.

At this time there is no confirmation that any of this week’s attacks are linked to ISIS or any terrorist organization.

ISIS Battle Will Take Years

The battle against Islamic terrorism is not going to end any time soon.

British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke to Parliament on Friday about the situation with ISIS and said that the battle to eliminate the terrorist entity is going to be prolonged and difficult.

“Beheadings, crucifixions, the gouging out of eyes, the use of rape as a weapon, the slaughter of children. All these things belong to the Dark Ages,” Cameron said.

“Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member, with a declared and proven determination to attack our country and our people.”

Cameron is asking permission to send significant amount of British airpower to Iraq.  Denmark is the latest country to join the coalition, sending seven F-16 fighter jets and pilots to Iraq for airstrikes.

Military analysts say the airstrikes have slowed ISIS progress.