Sabah columnist Yavuz Donat covers the views and suggestions of Korkut Ozal, the brother of ex-president Turgut Ozal, about the coming presidential election and the political system in Turkey, in his article titled ''Two Sultans'', on Monday.
Yavuz Donat says that Korkut Ozal is a close friend of the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) officials and he asks K. Ozal if he discusses the next presidential election with AKP leader and officials.
''Korkut Ozal says the existing parliament is going to elect the new President... and then the parliamentary elections will be held. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will stay prime minister --probably till 2007-- and then he will run as a candidate to become the new President,'' Donat writes. -DEMOCRATIZATION-
''However, rather than discussing who will be the next president, we should discuss the democratization of the system,'' Donat quotes Korkut Ozal, who further comments: ''the system has been arranged in a way to make the coup leader (former gen. Kenan Evren who toppled the government in 1980) become the President of the country. Neither the state nor the democracy functions in this system. In this system the Prime Minister is the sultan, the President is the supreme sultan and the members of the parliament (MPs) are just the ones who obey the sultans' orders. People should elect the President and the ministers should be chosen outside the parliament --this means presidential system, Donat comments--. If this is not the case, then the President should be like the German President and the Prime Minister should be like the German Prime Minister and the parliament should not be under the command of the government.''
When Donat asks Ozal about what PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan would do --if he is elected as the new President-- Ozal says: ''if he becomes the President, he won't do the mistake which my brother (Turgut Ozal) did. Erdogan will leave the party to someone who will keep the party strong and cooperate with him during his term in office. And there is somebody like that within the party, who is (FM & deputy Premier) Abdullah Gul.''