Parliament Debating Constitutional Amendment Package

ANKARA - Turkish parliament began Monday debating the first article of a constitutional amendment package regarding general and presidential elections.
The draft vetoed by the President Sezer was once again OK`d by the deputies. 366 MPs voted `yes`, 4 `no`, one MP abstained and one vote has been nullified.
The first article of the bill envisages that general elections will be held every four years (instead of five).
The bill would also allow the election of the president by popular vote, lowering presidential term to five years, allowing for another five-year term.
The amendment was vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer last week.