Turkish main opposition says swearing-in ceremony for MPs delayed due to refusal of HÜDA-PAR

Duvar English

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chair Veli Ağbaba on May 25 accused the Supreme Election Council (YSK) of intentionally withholding the final results of the parliamentary elections.

Ağbaba said that this decision was motivated by the fact that the radical Islamist Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR), which secured four MPs through the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) list, refuses to accept the oath of office taken by Turkish parliamentarians.

According to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, the General Assembly convenes for the swearing-in ceremony on the third day following the announcement of the final results of the parliamentary elections by the YSK. 

Ağbaba said the following: "The HÜDA-PAR's party program has clauses against the parliamentary oath, the Turkish flag, and the unitary structure. These gentlemen do not want to read the oath. Which sentences in the oath text sting them? Atatürk's principles, the rule of law, secularism, the republic, or democracy?"

HÜDA-PAR Deputy Chairman and Batman MP Serkan Ramanlı on May 24 said, "We do not think the text of the oath in parliament is the right text. The oath text should be changed."

Ağbaba also stated that there is an allegation that HÜDA-PAR MPs do not want women employees in the parliament and said: "These gentlemen also do not want female employees in the parliament. They want to work on the floors where there are no female employees. These are the deputies that the AKP has brought to Parliament.” 

In the early 2000s, the radical Islamist terrorist organization Hizbullah started to reorganize itself quietly under a number of foundations, associations, and other entities. Several members of the group established the HÜDA-PAR as a political party in December 2012 with the support of the current government, which green-lighted the party's entry into politics.

The radical Islamist party is especially active in Kurdish provinces in eastern Turkey. The Kurdish politicians and activists criticized the AKP’s attempts to strengthen HÜDA-PAR to control Kurdish constituencies to create a more conservative atmosphere to reduce the power of the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) impact in the region.

According to the constitution, every MP has to read the following text in order to take office: "I swear before the great Turkish nation on my honor and on my dignity to protect the existence and independence of the state, the indivisible integrity of the homeland and the nation, the unconditional sovereignty of the nation; to adhere to the rule of law, the democratic and secular Republic, and the principles and reforms of Atatürk; to uphold the peace and prosperity of the society, national solidarity and the principle of the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by all within a sense of justice, and to remain loyal to the constitution."