Sahin: Amendment To Article 109 Of Constitution Will Be Difficult

ANKARA - State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said on Saturday that the constitutional amendments would come onto the agenda after the adjustment package and said, ''I think amendment to article 109 of the Constitution will be difficult.''
Sahin told reporters that efforts were under way on the package named European Union (EU) adjustment law and comprised of 36 articles.
Deputy Prime Minister Sahin said that he would meet with State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ertugrul Yalcinbayar, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu later in the day and continue their initiatives related with the package.
Sahin noted that the Council of Ministers would have an extraordinary meeting on Monday and give the final shape to the adjustment package.
Parliamentary commissions would be formed on Tuesday, Sahin stated. He pointed out that they would exert efforts to pass the adjustment package from the parliament before December 12.
Sahin said, ''our priority is to pass the adjustment package before constitutional amendments.''
Some steps should be taken in freedom of politics, Sahin stressed. It was the duty of the parliament to make such an arrangement, he added.
Noting that one of the ways of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's becoming a prime minister was the amendment to Article 109 of the Constitution, Sahin said that he thought that this amendment was difficult.
Sahin stated that this issue did not coincide with parliamentary democracy and there were objections about arrangements peculiar to a single person.
''It will be beneficial to search for other formulas. Saying that we have the force to change this article can cause problems. The president can veto it or call for a referendum,'' Sahin said.
Sahin noted that December 12 would be the day when Turkey would try to get a date for opening of negotiations with the EU and when a decision about the joint bid of Turkey and Greece to co-host Euro 2008 would be made.
Stating that the contacts which would start with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday would have two important items of the agenda, Sahin said that those issues were the rise in salaries of civil servants and workers in 2003 and inactive employment.
Sahin said that they did not forget the promises given by the state when talking about the rise in salaries and thought of making people who had reached the age of retirement retire to relieve the public sector.
They would review the labour security law which would take effect in March, Sahin added.