ANKARA (A.A) - 19.07.2002 - Presidential Foreign Affairs Adviser Tacan Ildem said on Friday that President Ahmet Necdet Sezer welcomed the decision of the leaders of the ruling parties to hold early general elections on November 3, 2002.
Ildem told the weekly press briefing that the President was closely following recent political developments.
''The President is evaluating all these developments in line with his obligation to be neutral and in line with his authorities. The President welcomed the decision that the coalition partners took on July 16 to hold general elections on November 3, 2002,'' Ildem added.
Ildem said that President Ahmet Necdet Sezer believed that problems caused by early elections would be solved calmly and with common sense.
The President was evaluating all these developments in line with his obligation to be neutral and in line with his authorities, Ildem said.
Ildem noted, ''Turkey is having a political uncertainty in recent weeks. What is important is to create opportunities which will help overcome this uncertainty and pave the way for Turkey. Early general elections which is stated as a necessity by almost all of the political parties can be beneficial in this sense. Holding early elections is a process of no return in the current situation of Turkey.''
''This should be considered natural. Because, the way to overcome political uncertainties in democracies is asking the will of the people. To this end, the President believes that the problems caused by early elections will be solved calmly and with common sense,'' Ildem added.
Ildem said President Ahmet Necdet Sezer thought that Political Parties and Elections Laws had to be amended.
As stated in the Constitution, political parties was indispensable elements of democratic political life, Ildem said.
Ildem noted that a structuring in political parties which would ensure functionality of democratic rules was inevitable.
In order to succeed in democratization process, amendments to Political Parties Law which would take under guarantee inter-party democracy had to be made, Ildem stated.
Ildem said, ''elections is also a prior element of political participation. There is a close relationship between election systems and laws and democracy. The Constitution states that election laws have to be regulated in a way to abide by stability rules in justice and administration. The President stresses that the Constitutional rule which foresees abiding by these principles should be taken into consideration when amending Election Law.''
The President believed that all those laws had to be amended, Ildem noted.
Ildem pointed out that the President thought that the timing and quality of the amendments to those laws were an issue concerning the parliament.
Sezer believed that it would be beneficial to call the parliament for an extraordinary meeting in order to discuss and conclude legal arrangements in line with the European Union (EU) membership and aiming to meet Copenhagen political criteria, Ildem noted.
Ildem added, ''when the importance of the year 2002 for full membership process is taken into consideration, the draft laws, some of which are on the agenda of the parliament and some of which are on the agenda of the commissions, should be concluded immediately. The President has no concern that the political parties represented at the parliament will consider the interests of the country and society above everything and act with a historic responsibility.''