Ruling party to submit presidential system bill: Turkish PM

Ankara, 18 October 2016 (MIA) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday said the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party would soon be submitting a bill for a new constitution and presidential system, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We will submit a proposal including new constitutional amendments and presidential system to the parliament as soon as possible” he told his party’s parliamentary group meeting, adding the final decision belonged to the parliament.

Yildirim also commented on the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli’s Tuesday remarks giving green light to a referendum for a constitutional change and shift to the presidential system, saying they were truly spoken words, and Bahceli was "on the right path."

Constitutional change, in particular the call for a presidential system, has been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former prime minister and AK Party leader, was elected Turkey's president in August 2014.

That election marked the first time a Turkish president, whose role is currently defined as being largely symbolic, was directly chosen by popular vote.

Changing to the presidential system is opposed by Turkey’s three other parliamentary parties, and the AK Party lacks the super-majority in parliament needed to make the change without submitting it to a referendum.