AK Party prioritizes simpler bureaucracy in presidential system

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has stressed that the priority of the committee established within the party to design the new executive presidential system is to eliminate ongoing problems stemming from the hurdles in bureaucracy and state structure.

The ruling party established five committees with the aim of working on the adjustment laws and changes necessary for the Prime Ministry and presidency.

"We aim to establish a simpler and better functioning public administration. Bureaucracy tends to grow. We need to restrict that and maintain our efforts in this line," Cevdet Yılmaz, head of committee for restructuring the execution, recently told Turkish media.

The AK Party has ramped up its efforts to restructure public administrations as part of the adjustment laws with the aim of preventing bureaucratic oligarchy and sluggishness. The ongoing preparations for the executive presidential system are expected to be ready prior to the 2019 elections. While stressing the repercussions caused by bureaucratic sluggishness, Yılmaz said reforms are needed to prevent it from happening in the first place.

President Recep Tayip Erdoğan has also previously pointed to the issue of "bureaucratic sluggishness and oligarchy" and underlined the necessity of restructuring public administrations within the framework of the adjustment laws. The president stressed that the government and its bureaucracy should be able to function efficiently and added that the multi-headed bureaucracy needs to be restructured.

Officials from the AK Party have also stressed that opposition parties should join the efforts of making the required changes for the presidential governing system, which were approved in the April 16 referendum. The adjustment laws will be presented to the assembly when finished.

As the Prime Ministry will be removed in the new governing system, the duties of this institution will be transferred to the presidency. It has been discussed that the duties might be shared by some offices to be formed within the presidency. The decisions and opinions of these specialized offices, such as the Office for Agriculture and the Office for Economy, are expected to play significant roles in shaping government policies.