Spotlight: "Yes" vote for executive presidency raises concern about democracy in Turkey

After slim lead in referendum win, many Turkish people are concerned that democracy in the country will suffer due to the creation of an all-powerful but unchecked president.

"It is now quite difficult to call Turkey democratic as the president will also have a strong control over both the parliament and the judiciary," Abdullatif Sener, a former leading figure of Turkey's ruling party, told Xinhua.

The constitutional amendments accepted in the referendum with a slim majority are much criticized for greatly weakening the parliament, eliminating checks and balances and leading to a one-man rule.

The 18-article constitutional package was accepted by 51.4 percent of the ballot in Sunday's plebiscite, just above the threshold of 51 percent, according to the initial results.

"The system (to be put in place by the referendum) will lead to a party-state," said Sener, who served as deputy prime minister in the first government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has called for a recount of some votes and annulling the referendum, arguing about blatant violations of the election law and potential cheating in the ballot boxes, an allegation echoed by European observers but rejected by the Turkish authorities.

CHP said it will appeal further to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights if necessary in case of no positive response from Turkey's election watchdog.

"It is impossible not to be concerned about Turkey's democracy," Ibrahim Kaboglu, a professor of constitutional law, told Xinhua.

Referring to remarks President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made before the referendum result was finalized, in which the president indicated the result could not be altered, Kaboglu said, "Such discourse raises serious questions about Turkey's democratic future."

Erdogan implied on Sunday night that claims of vote fraud were no more than a vain effort, saying it was too late to change the result.

The remark came before the election watchdog, the Supreme Election Board, announced that the "Yes" camp had won based on unofficial results.

The president's speech indicates the result of the vote had already been fixed, Erdal Aksunger, a CHP deputy chairman, told reporters on Monday.

The opposition would possibly not be able to act freely if the system turns into a party-state in the future, remarked Kaboglu.

The yes vote will introduce an immediate change in only two critical areas: the lift of a ban on the president having ties with his party and the reelection of members of Turkey's top judicial body, the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors.

"So, the judiciary and the parliament will immediately get under Erdogan's sway," said Sener, who cut off his ties with AKP in 2008.

AKP will invite Erdogan to become a member of the party after April 27-28, Mustafa Elitas, the party's parliamentary group deputy chairman, said on Monday.

Erdogan will then again be able to head the party while serving as president, a development that allows him to select without violating the constitution all AKP deputy candidates ahead of a general election and keep thereby a tight control over the party.

In this way, the president will also be in a position to keep a tight control over the parliament.

"There will be a concentration of more power in the hands of the executive branch," Bican Sahin, a political scientist from Hacettepe University, told Xinhua.

He said the new system proposed by the AKP has very little checks and balances.

Other analysts believe one should not lose hope on the Turkish democracy considering almost half the voters said no.

"Despite all the pressure by the state and the fact that the campaign was conducted under an emergency rule, such a high percentage of no votes may represent hope for democracy," Kaboglu argued.

Turkey imposed a rule of emergency in the wake of a failed coup attempt last July, which was extended for another three months late Monday, the third time for the government to do so.

During the campaign period, naysayers sometimes met with obstacles set up by local authorities, while mobs tried to intimidate them from time to time.

The ruling AKP, meanwhile, was widely accused by the naysayers of conducting a campaign by using state funds. In addition, a huge portion of the media largely broadcast in support of the yes campaign.

Noting the campaign was not conducted on an equal footing, Sener stated, "A yes vote of around 51 percent should be taken as a defeat for yeasayers under these circumstances."

The win at the referendum is not usually considered a big win for AKP as it lost in 17 of the 30 big cities, including the two biggest -- Istanbul and Ankara, where AKP-affiliated mayors have been governing since mid-1990s.

A potential crisis in the political system is not ruled out either.

Noting almost half the population voted no in the referendum, Sahin said, "The system is based on weak legitimacy."

Sahin, who is also president of the Ankara-based Freedom Research Association, said the low level of legitimacy could pose a significant problem should a social and economic unrest erupt in the future.

Kaboglu believes Turkey will enter a period of constitutional chaos after Erdogan is reelected as head of the AKP considering that the president is required to be impartial under the constitution.

Since his election into office in 2014, Erdogan has been much criticized for failing to act impartially as a president.

Turkey will actually switch to the presidential system only after 2019 when Erdogan's current term ends, if a snap election is not called before then. Parliamentary elections will be held at the same time.

Sener feels if no political party with a strong appeal to center-right voters emerges before the elections in 2019, Turkey risks getting away from democratic politics under AKP.

The Islamist AKP is supported by a great majority of conservative and religious voters in Turkey, while the present center-right and religious parties have insignificant voter support.

After the polls in 2019, the newly-elected president will be authorized as well to change all top-level bureaucrats by a presidential decree without parliament's approval. Endit