Proposed constitutional amendments to be voted today

Yesterday, proposal for discussing the constitutional amendments in the parliament was passed with 338 votes in favor and 134 against. There were two abstentions and one invalid vote. 

MHP and AKP support the amendments and the total number of MPs of the two is 344. 338 in favor votes mean that a total of 6 people from two parties don’t support the amendments.

After the voting, CHP MPs reported that some MPs hadn’t entered the booth and voted openly.

Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ahmet Aydın disregarded the complaints, saying that the secret voting was carried out properly. However, there is footage showing that some AKP MPs voted openly and showed their vote.

HDP boycotting the voting

HDP Deputy Group Chairperson Ayhan Bilgen stated that they will boycott the voting in the parliament for passing the amendments. “We won’t vote for this illegal amendment package in a time when our MPs are unfairly under arrest and prevented from performing their duties.”

HDP Deputy Group Chairperson Filiz Kerestecioğlu spoke during the talks last evening: “We don’t accept these amendments that lead one person to the presidency. We won’t be accomplices to this crime. Since the right to vote of co-chairs and MPs are violated, we won’t be voting in any round.”