Erdogan Abelhamid II

The Ottoman constitution of 1876 was the first constitution of the Ottoman Empire, drafted by the Young Ottomans when Sultan Abedlahamid II acceded to the throne. However, Abdelhamid’s iron-fist rule meant that the Constitution was only in effect for two years, from 1876 to 1878 during the First Constitutional Era, and Empire’s hopes for political opening were shattered. For years, the Sultan exercised absolute power and controlled a ring of a ruling oligarchical elite. The Constitution was reinstated in 1908 following the Young Turk Revolution. The Constitution allowed for the respect of minorities and their right to be represented in regional assemblies, democratizing the Ottoman institutions and ceding representative rights to the disenfranchised. What Abdelhamid II planned to carry out with his absolute monarchy and autocratic rule by burying the Constitution was trumped by the courage, vision, and justice of the Yong Ottomans.

 

It is important to revert to this historical era of Turkey when it served as the centre of the Ottoman Empire, and underline the dichotomy between the actions taken by the young Sultan and their underlying reasons. The promulgation of a Constitution in 1876 under the Sultan’s nascent rein was hailed as an achievement and as a promise to political development and opening. Nations embedded in the Ottoman fabric of multi-confessional, multi-ethnic, and multi-continental Empire were thrilled to learn that their voice would be heard. Nonetheless, reality proved different, and nations were subject to further discrimination and control of freedoms.  

 

History seems to repeat itself. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’ ruling Justice and Development Party unveiled a proposed amendment to the Constitution which would change the political system, from a parliamentary system to a presidential system. The envisaged amendments include the abolishment of the prime minister's office and the cabinet; the appointment of the president as the head of the executive branch; and the preservation of the President’s ties with his (ruling) political party.

 

Presidential system and semi-presidential system has proven effective and democratic, taking the American and French systems as an example. However, the balance of powers and the accountability of the president and his team before the parliament are guaranteed in both systems, considering that the legislative body needs not be composed of a majority of the President’s party. Furthermore, the president is not necessarily the party’s leader but one of its figures, allowing therefore the party to oppose presidential positions and policies.

 

In other words, what the present Turkish constitutional amendment suggests is that the President will be elected by the public, who will simultaneously select the parliament. The party that will form the majority of the latter will logically and deductively be the party that backs the President. Consequently, the parliament, the president and his cabinet will be subject to the whims of one figure: the president.

 

So what Erdogan is proposing to do does not differ much from what Abdelhamid II did briefly back in the late 19^th century. However, while in the latter’s case the abolition of the Constitution lead to absolute monarchy, in the former’s case, the amendment of the Constitution will lead to a legalised autocracy. Time will only reveal what this ‘opening’ will lead to in the Turkish scene, and what it would mean for minorities and opposition powers.