Opposition parties voice demands for judicial reform package

Nergis Demirkaya/DUVAR

Turkey's parliament is slated tore-open on October 1, and among the key topics on the agenda is thegovernment's highly-touted judicial reform package. The mainopposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the NationalistMovement Party (MHP) have voiced certain demands for what theybelieve must be included in the package.

The CHP has said that changes in thestructure and selection method of the Council of Judges andProsecutors (HSK) is necessary for judicial reform. The HSK has thepower to appoint, dismiss and discipline the country's judges andprosecutors. Prior to a 2017 constitutional referendum backed byPresident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that established a presidentialsystem in Turkey, the bulk of the HSK members were selected by thejudiciary, but in the first vote after the referendum, four memberswere selected by Erdoğan himself while seven were elected byparliament.

“The included regulations may ensuresome benefits but if a regulation is to be made in the name ofjudicial reform, priority must be given to reconsidering the HSK inthe constitution. Without this, judicial reform is out of thequestion,” said an unnamed CHP official.

The MHP is demanding what it describesas amnesty for more than 160,000 prisoners currently behind bars.Last year, the party submitted a draft bill to parliament that soughtto apply conditional five-year sentence reductions to those convictedof certain crimes, which did not include serious crimes such asterror and murder charges. The MHP has said it wants its amnestyclause to become effective starting with the October 29 Republicholiday.

While Erdoğan has championed hisjudicial reform strategy as one that would be in compliance with EUaccession standards, critics are skeptical that the government willactually take concrete steps toward judicial reform, asserting thatErdoğan exerts formidable control over the judiciary. After the 2016failed coup attempt, thousands of judges and prosecutors weredismissed from their positions and arrested. Many were accused ofbeing followers of the exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen, which Turkeybelieves to be the mastermind behind the 2016 failed coup attempt.