ANKARA - Necmettin Erbakan announced on Friday that he had withdrawn from Felicity Party (SP) membership.
Releasing a statement, Erbakan said, ''according to the relevant articles of the Constitution, political parties are indispensable elements of political life in a democratic country. Therefore, political parties are taken under special guarantee of the Constitution. Issues regarded with financial activities of political parties are being arranged in line with the relevant articles of the Political Parties Law. Under the Constitution and the Political Parties Law, the Constitutional Court is authorized to investigate incomes and spendings of political parties, and to determine whether or not these activities are legal. This authority cannot be transferred to any institution.''
''All official documents about financial activities of the Welfare Party (RP) have been kept by the Ministry of Finance Directorate General of National Real Estate. These documents prove that the RP's headquarters and provincial organizations did not make any spendings between January 1, 1997 and February 22, 1998. This fact is enough to prove that the court had taken a decision against rules and principles. We believe that a judicial mistake was made in this decision and that the mistake would be corrected as soon as possible. As a person, who respects laws, I will withdraw from SP membership till this mistake is corrected,'' he added.
SP: SIX PEOPLE INCLUDING ERBAKAN WITHDREW FROM MEMBERSHIP
The Felicity Party notified the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor's Office that six people including Necmettin Erbakan, who were sentenced to imprisonment terms in the case known by the public opinion as ''lost trillion'' had withdrawn from their memberships, therefore, there was no need to exclude them.
Sources told the A.A correspondent on Friday that the 30-day period given by the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor's Office to the SP to exclude Erbakan and five other members from their memberships and positions came to and end.
The SP send a document to the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor's Office saying that since Erbakan and the other five members had withdrawn from their memberships, there was not need to exclude them.
The SP did not make any statement about the person who would act as SP leader.
Under the Political Parties Law, the SP should hold extraordinary congress within 45 days to elect its new leader.
Earlier, Erbakan was sentenced to two years and four months in prison on charges of forgery in the case known as ''lost trillion''. The Supreme Court of Appeals Criminal Department no: 11 upheld the imprisonment sentence given to Erbakan.
Erbakan's imprisonment sentence was postponed for a year in line with a report of the Ankara Numune Hospital saying that Erbakan's illnesses were vital.
(UK-AÖ) 30.01.2004