CUMHURIYET- Columnist Mustafa Balbay writes on the laws waiting to be enacted by the Parliament. A summary of his column is as follows:
There are a number of laws waiting to be enacted by the Parliament, such as the mini-democracy package, banking law and property taxes. If there is no last-minute change, the main topic to be discussed at the leaders' summit will be the mini-democracy package. The backbone of the discussion will be the definition of the crime. Everyone views the issue from his own perspective. Whatever the definition may be, experience has shown that the important issue is its implementation. We have witnessed six different verdicts to the same crime while applying the Anti-Terror law. As the discussions between the coalition leaders were heating up, EU ambassadors were also included in the arguments. As we got used to everything, EU and US ambassadors became a part of our system. The initiative by the EU ambassadors stating that such an amendment could not be accepted and that this intervention was not rebuffed by the prime minister while discussions on the issue were still ongoing made us wonder if in the near future they would also attend the leaders' summit. The bills creating a dispute are called 'harmonization laws'! On property taxes, everyone accepts the fact that the scale has been tipped too far in favor of the state. However, they will be reworked. Regarding the banking law, State Minister Responsible for Economy Dervis is expected to make a statement at the Treasury to address the concerns of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Later he will attend the leaders' summit and explain what must be done.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION