ANKARA - The Council of Ministers meeting held under chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended.
Making a statement after the meeting, Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said that they had decided to send the bill on reassociation to the parliament, and it was opened to signature.
Cicek said that they would decide on cancellation of at least 100 thousand of nearly 440 thousand vacant posts at the state.
Cicek said that State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin had briefed the Council of Ministers on the legislative and supervisory activities at the parliament, adding that 143 of the 347 bills that had been sent to the parliament during the period of the 58th and 59th governments had been legalized.
Recalling that 871 questions with notice and 605 questions without notice had been submitted to the parliament, Cicek said that 583 of the questions with notice and 369 of the questions without notice had been replied.
Stating that they had decided to transfer the bill on amendment to the Basic Law on Ministry of National Education to the parliament, Cicek said that the bill envisaged opening of new schools in appropriate places with the source to be obtained through sale of schools which were especially situated in or around trade centers in big cities.
Cicek said that the National Program would be discussed at the parliament on Tuesday, and the work on the Seventh European Union (EU) Adjustment Package would be given its final shape after they got opinions and views of parliamentarians and parliamentary groups.
''We are trying to legalize the bill on reassociation as soon as possible. We think this bill is an important step on the point of reassociation of criminals whatever the reason was. The bill should be explained and perceived very well. Turkey wants to open a new page. There may be some people who feel uncomfortable about opening of such a new page. This bill was announced and sent to the parliament after it had been discussed in detail for a long time at the relevant state organs. although it is a government initiative, it is actually a state initiative. People want to continue living in peace and tranquility without experiencing those problematic days in the past. I wish that this bill would serve such a target. We have transferred it to the parliament as of today,'' he said.
Following the Council of Ministers meeting, Cicek answered questions of reporters.
When asked whether or not the new adjustment package included an arrangement that paved the way for bringing YAS decisions to court, Cicek said, ''no. And I saw it in newspapers. They are either supposition or desire. Such a thing is out of question. Ninety percent of such articles are based on estimate.''
When asked how many people would benefit from the reassociation law, Cicek said, ''we wish that everybody who are under scope of this law would benefit from it. This is a very important opportunity. Person makes a mistake from time to time deliberately or not. However, everybody should continue to serve his family and state. With this respect, we wish that everybody under scope of the law would benefit from it.''
When recalled of the news about eighth adjustment package, Cicek said, ''the seventh one has not been released yet. I assure you of the fact that most of such news lack information but they are based on supposition.''
Replying a question which said, ''there are demands whether bill on reassociation of several criminals could be changed as general amnesty. What do you say about it?'' Cicek said, ''we are not in favor of amnesty. We don't consider it an amnesty. The name of the bill is clear. We discussed it and this is the thing that can be done.''
When asked, ''you have said that there were people who felt uncomfortable about the bill. Who are they?'' Cicek said, ''you know it, they appear form time to time.''
(MS) 30.06.2003