Opposition MP's question about rising exchange rates gets censored during budget discussions

Duvar English

Budget discussions in Turkey's parliament began with the censorship of a question concerning the skyrocketing dollar-lira exchange rates, the daily BirGün reported on Oct. 21. 

The question was asked by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Süleyman Girgin as the lira dropped to 9.45 against the dollar on Oct. 21.

The deputy noted that the budget proposal had lost its relevance as a result of the drastically different economic landscape than when the text was prepared. 

"Our citizens deserve to see on live television what's going on that concerns their lives. There's a large divide between when the budget preparations started and the current situation," the deputy said. 

The Budget Committee chair turned off Girgin's microphone, and also refused requests from opposition deputies to have the budget discussions broadcast on the official parliament channel. 

Main opposition CHP lawmaker Abdüllatif Şener also took the stage, saying that several details of the budget proposal had been missing.  "The reports were shortened, some of the data is missing," Şener said. "This already impedes the [budget] discussions."

Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Garo Paylan also criticized parliament's opaque attitude to the public about the budget discussions, and drew attention to the presidency's extravagant spending

The committee will hold five other sessions before the end of November.