Turkey's parliament allocated increased budget despite diminished authority
Turkey's parliament, hampered by the increased authority granted to the presidency after the country transitioned to a presidential system two year ago, has received a budget hike of 8.4 percent for the upcoming year. Parliament Speaker Şentop said that parliament had been working at full speed in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duvar English
Despite having its authority considerably weakened following Turkey's transition to a presidential system in 2018, the country's parliament will be granted a budget of 1.89 billion TL for 2021, an increase of 8.4 pct. compared to this year, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop said.
Turkish voters said “yes” to shifting the country’s governance system to an executive presidency with a controversial referendum on constitutional amendments on April 16, 2017.
The country shifted to the system officially on July 9, 2018, replacing a 95-year-old parliamentary system.
The system granted sweeping powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and allowed him to be both the leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the president at the same time.
Speaking in parliament, Şentop said that parliament had been working at full speed in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We take the necessary precautions immediately, carefully and meticulously in order for the deputies to carry out their General Assembly studies, commissions and press conferences in a healthy environment,” Şentop said.
On the other hand, during the current parliamentary period, only 4299 out of 34,713 parliamentary inquiries had received responses.
The opposition said that these inquiries addressed to cabinet ministries are the only check on the government that deputies have left, and they go routinely unanswered.