Parliament may recess, ignoring PM
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 25, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Parliament is expected to recess June 30 despite the prime minister’s promise that it would not break before it passed a number of laws related to Turkey’s European Union negotiation process.
According to the internal regulation of Parliament, it ceases its legislative works by July 1 for three months. To change the implementation, the political parties must agree on how long the Parliament will remain open and which laws will be debated. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promised EU ambassadors on Monday that Parliament would continue its legislations and would pass pending laws that were connected with the EU process.
"What we understand from the prime minister’s statement is that the parliamentary recess will not be an obstacle. He told us that Parliament would not recess before it passes 18 to 19 laws. It’s sure that more complicated issues with a lot of technical details will come before Turkey in the next term," Branimir Mladenov, Bulgarian ambassador to Turkey, told reporters Wednesday during a meeting with members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, or DMD. He also said that a three-month break was too much for Parliament and there was a concern on the EU side that Parliament would not be able to amend some necessary laws on time.
Turkey is expecting to open the chapter on taxation on Friday and the chapters on environment and social policies during the Swedish EU-term presidency in December. Although Erdoğan assured EU ambassadors that Parliament would remain open, according to sources, there are not many pending drafts in Parliament that would have an affect on the EU negotiation process.
Two major bills
Until June 30, when Parliament is expected to recess, the law on the EU secretary-general, credit cards, construction and some other minor laws are expected to be approved. Parliament will then break until Aug. 4, the day when lawmakers will convene to elect the parliament speaker. The ruling Justice and Development Party is planning to propose to keep Parliament open after the election of the new speaker and work until the beginning of Ramadan, Aug. 19. If agreed upon, Parliament is expected to debate two major bills Ğ trade code and code of obligations.
"What we understand from the prime minister’s statement is that the parliamentary recess will not be an obstacle. He told us that Parliament would not recess before it passes 18 to 19 laws. It’s sure that more complicated issues with a lot of technical details will come before Turkey in the next term," Branimir Mladenov, Bulgarian ambassador to Turkey, told reporters Wednesday during a meeting with members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, or DMD. He also said that a three-month break was too much for Parliament and there was a concern on the EU side that Parliament would not be able to amend some necessary laws on time.
Turkey is expecting to open the chapter on taxation on Friday and the chapters on environment and social policies during the Swedish EU-term presidency in December. Although Erdoğan assured EU ambassadors that Parliament would remain open, according to sources, there are not many pending drafts in Parliament that would have an affect on the EU negotiation process.
Two major bills
Until June 30, when Parliament is expected to recess, the law on the EU secretary-general, credit cards, construction and some other minor laws are expected to be approved. Parliament will then break until Aug. 4, the day when lawmakers will convene to elect the parliament speaker. The ruling Justice and Development Party is planning to propose to keep Parliament open after the election of the new speaker and work until the beginning of Ramadan, Aug. 19. If agreed upon, Parliament is expected to debate two major bills Ğ trade code and code of obligations.