SABAH- Columnist Gungor Mengi writes on current political developments and possible election campaign issues. A summary of his column is as follows:
The party leaders remind me of priests who spent hours discussing the sex of angels in the last days of the Byzantine Empire. Including Ecevit, there is no one denying that elections in November have come to a point of no return. From now on every politician who is a statesman in even in the smallest degree must have two aims. The first is to enact the EU adaptation laws and pave the road for Turkey and the government to be established after elections. The second one is to change the Political Parties and Election Laws in order for the elections to provide a solution. If the Parliament falls into a state of negligence which causes Turkey to miss its date with the EU at the end of the year, governments which come into power following the elections will have to grapple with problems of economic growth, unemployment, and social unrest, and the social and political tension within the country will lead Turkey to move further away from its EU membership goal. Why don’t the political parties wake up to the fact that foreign investments are directed more towards Romania and Bulgaria, which are taking bolder steps towards the EU? Yesterday Ecevit said that only elections were on the agenda. Nothing else could be discussed. His fear of being eliminated in the coming elections has made Ecevit forget his responsibility to both himself and history. He turned it into a weapon of vengeance. True Path Party (DYP) leader Ciller, fearing that a success on the road to the EU would be a plus for the Motherland Party (ANAP), can sacrifice the EU project. If the New Turkey party cannot rouse new excitement in society with new steps and new faces, only the Justice and Development Party (AKP), True Path Party (DYP) and the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) can enter the government. While The New Turkey party tries to unify the moderate majority, it can also serve as another divisive factor. Such developments can damage democracy more than extremist parties. Therefore centrist parties should work together while there is still time to legalize ‘election alliances.’ No one has the right to turn elections into a gamble, and throw the votes of the moderate majority into the trash bin. If unsuccessful and irresponsible politicians are set to commit political suicide, they must find a method which will not harm the country or society.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION