STORY: Turkish justice minister says to retain current presidential system
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 20, 2023; File
DATELINE: Nov. 22, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:27
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the meeting with reporters of Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc in Ankara (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): YILMAZ TUNC, Turkish Justice Minister
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): YILMAZ TUNC, Turkish Justice Minister
4. various of the last presidential elections in Türkiye (file)

STORYLINE:

Türkiye's government will retain the current presidential system, but wants to reform the constitution in line with the necessities, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently signaled an amendment to the presidential election system which requires that a presidential candidate must have at least 50 percent plus one vote of the electors.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): YILMAZ TUNC, Turkish Justice Minister
"(Amending) '50+1' system is up to our parliament. All these things can be discussed in line with our new constitution efforts. These changes require compromise in the parliament."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): YILMAZ TUNC, Turkish Justice Minister
"There were criticisms in the first years of the implementation of the system. Changes on the legislative and executive processes can be discussed in line with our needs." 

Erdogan has been pushing for a new constitution to replace the current one, which was ratified in 1982 and has been amended 19 times since then. The last amendment in 2017 introduced a presidential system and abolished the parliamentary system.

Erdogan has been leading the country since he became prime minister in 2003.

He became the first executive president of Türkiye in 2018 following a constitutional referendum in 2017 which changed Türkiye's parliamentary system into a presidential one.

In May, Erdogan was elected as a president for his third term. The ruling Justice and Development Party has been working on a draft charter since last year.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)