Erdogan muzzles his opponents by reducing the duration of parliamentary speeches
As usual with any dictatorial regime, Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan always feels the danger of the voices opposing
his ruling regime on his remaining in power, and their impact on his influence,
and then he resorts to devising laws and means that contribute to silencing
those voices and even extinguishing them forever.
The Turkish opposition Zaman newspaper confirmed
that the ruling Justice and Development Party and its ally, the National
Movement, are preparing to reduce the length of speeches of members of
Parliament, in a move that the regime wants to silence the voice of the
opposition in the House of Representatives.
Before the start of the twenty-seventh session of
Parliament on October 1, Erdogan seeks to withdraw the right of opposition MPs to
speak in Parliament. Therefore, the bill will include reducing speeches
delivered in the Parliament's General Assembly by half.
According to Zaman, the current procedures that are
in effect in Parliament stipulate that the duration of speeches delivered on
behalf of political party groups and blocs does not exceed 20 minutes, while
the duration of speeches delivered by the representatives is 10 minutes, and in
the event that they are repeated for the second time, the time is shortened.
Halved, that is, 5 minutes.
For his part,
Özgur Özil, deputy head of the parliamentary bloc of the CHP, the largest
opposition party, criticized the project, saying: “Instead of submitting
project proposals that meet the interests of the citizen, they make Parliament
work overtime to present draft decisions for the benefit of the palace class
and those around it.”
In the same context, the Turkish newspaper
"Dovar" confirmed that the ruling Justice and Development Party is
planning to make changes in the electoral system during the reopening of the
new parliamentary session next October, as it is working with its ally, the
National Movement, to finalize the lists of changes to be presented upon the
return of Parliament. And the two sides formed committees to work on amending
the political parties law, the election law, and the Parliament's bylaws.
And on the course of the continued persecution of
opponents, the Turkish newspaper Zaman said that dozens of opposition figures
have been subjected to kidnappings and arrests during the past period,
stressing that the charges against them are fabricated and null, and are only
allegations of overthrowing the regime and inciting violence.
Zaman stated that nearly 30 politicians, most of
them young men, have been arrested after being kidnapped in the past two months
alone.
