CUMHURIYET- Columnist Mustafa Balbay writes on the efforts of the coalition partners to show that the government is on the job. A summary of his column is as follows:
Barring any last minute-change of plans, the coalition partners are coming together at the Prime Ministry at 1.30 p.m.. When Prime Minister Ecevit was enjoying good health, all the issues of the government were solved at the leaders' summit. Will this be a similar meeting? If it were so, it would give the impression that the government crisis dominating the country's agenda was being solved. Unfortunately, both the preparations for the summit, and the evaluations of the partners before the meeting, bring this question to mind: Is this summit nothing but an effort to show that the government is still on duty? The Democratic Left Party (DSP) will try to demonstrate that the prime minister is continuing his duties without a hitch. All efforts pointed in that direction, from Ecevit's coming to the Parliament to the visit he made to the president. Ecevit, who took these steps notwithstanding the orders of his physicians, will show all that he is healthy and able by gathering the leaders' summit. Ecevit wants to convey three messages by doing so: First, he wants to say that he is still alive in view of the restlessness in his party. Secondly, he will take an initiative towards his coalition partners. Thus, he will tell them that he has no intentions of withdrawing. Thirdly, he wants to tell the public, and the employer-employee sector which has started to raise its voice, that he is on duty. The only aim of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) is to stay in the government and to say that it has not accepted all it has been asked to. The representatives of the MHP are voicing this stance at every possible opportunity. It seems as if the MHP is the coalition partner responsible not for the issues of the country, but for its sensitivities. It appears that the MHP leader will attend today's summit with the same understanding. There does not seem to be much on the Motherland Party's (ANAP) agenda. Their joint happiness may lie in taking the Parliament into a recess, safe and sound. They may believe that they will work during the summer in between and will see what happens in autumn. The partners may adopt such a stand, but Turkey's problems paint a different picture indeed. Even if the Parliament begins its recess, the problems, politics and crises won't. This will inevitably disrupt the peace of the government. Not only Turkey, but all the foreign circles who have any relations with Turkey have one concern, and that is 'uncertainty'. Economic data do not show a stable state. Yesterday, the State Institute of Statistics (DIE) announced the data for the first quarter of 2002. The figures show that we are still behind the figures of 2000. In its recent letter, the IMF foresees an increase in unemployment and price hikes. If the leaders' summit meeting in such an atmosphere ends in two hours and a statement comes out saying that everything is peachy but they had problems expressing it, the confidence in the government will further erode. The summit should at least make it clear how studies will be conducted during the summer, and how and in whose leadership the Council of Ministers will meet.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION