The reform preparations that have been going on for quite a while now in order to revise the presidential system have come to an end as the work is expected to be presented to the public next month.
The months long preparations revealed many points regarding the running of the system that has been in force for only a year now. For instance, it is revealed that the country organizations have adapted the new system better than their urban counterparts.
Additionally, it is determined that the 80% of the problems and malfunctions were caused from not the law itself but the lack of application, whi
ch will be at the core of the reforms.
On Aug. 23, during the party's Central Executive Committee (MYK) meeting under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the work that aims to make the system function more effectively was one of the main topics. Vice President Fuat Oktay gave a briefing on the work and measures that have been taken on the issue during the meeting whil
e three books have been given to the MYK members that explained the work that has been done so far.
According to the information that was shared at the MYK, the last touches will be made on the work during the upcoming weeks, making the reforms ready for presentation at the beginning of the October. The reforms will be presented under the titles of "execution, government and presidency."
In order to determine the malfunctions within the system, public surveys have been conducted and people's complaints have been received. Similar surveys have been conducted among bureaucratic circles as well and some titles such as the problems within the running, efficiency, creating a bureaucracy and getting away from solving the problems at the base.
Official documents of the ministries have been examined. The duration of the time that takes a project to be realized also has been determined while all the ministries have been handled individually. The complaints and demands that come to the Presidency have also been classified in accordance with their subjects and necessary data has been collected.
Another malfunction is determined as the problem of coordination between presidency, Parliament and the ministries. In order to prevent this problem, it is being argued for some ministers to keep guard at Parliament each week and attend the commission meetings while increasing the authorities of the deputy ministers.
As a result, the work has been almost completed with an outline that first mentions the existing malfunctions and then the suggestions for solutions. It is also reported that some MYK members pointed at the problems within the judiciary system and recommended for the judiciary to be included in the work as well although no steps have been taken on the issue yet.
Although the booklets that explain the works have been prepared for the people, it is reported that Erdoğan has found the scope of the booklets' content narrow and demanded for it to be a broader brief of the whole work. Thus, the booklets will be prepared again.
On June 24, 2018, Turkey officially switched its administrative structure through an election and embraced the presidential system, leaving the parliamentary system behind. Although it was a new system for the country and there was ambiguity among the people regarding how it would function, the government has dedicated this whole year to the explanation of the benefits of the system and became quite successful in doing so. Still, as the system begins to settle, some reforms are needed to make it function more efficiently.
The Turkish Presidency took up the issue and urged the State Supervisory Council to inspect state institutions and determine what kind of reforms around which areas are needed.
Although it's been awhile since word of the first reforms started, the inspection by the State Supervisory Council comes to the forefront as the first concrete step toward any revision in the system. It was reported by Habertürk daily in July that the aim of the inspection is to measure the effect of the new system to the work and functioning of the institutions and to determine grey areas that cause problems.