The Grand National Assembly of Turkey [official website] announced Friday that its Commission on the Constitution approved a draft amendment to the Turkish Constitution which would give the president greater power. If the National Assembly approves the bill, which it is set to discuss in January, a referendum would have to approve the amendment as well, before it becomes law. Under the current Turkish Constitution [text, PDF] the President serves a mostly ceremonial role, while the executive power is entrusted to the Prime Minister and the general Assembly. Current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has championed the amendment, which would change Turkey’s political system, moving the executive power to the president and abolishing the position of prime minister. Apart from the shift of power to the president, the amendment would also change a number of other constitutional provisions, like lowering the voting age to 18, increasing the members of the National Assembly, changing election years from every fourth to every fifth and limiting the president to sit for two terms. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s party supports the bill and, along with the nation’s more conservative MHP party, have the required votes to approve it. There has been some criticism from the other parties in the National Assembly, fearing that the amendment will let the President rule unchecked and that it could lead to a form of “dictatorship”.

Since the failed coup in Turkey in July, where Turkish military forces tried to overthrow the Government, the Turkish Government has taken several controversial steps to strengthen its power. In July Amnesty International condemned [JURIST report] Turkey for attacking the freedom of the press by issuing arrest warrants for 42 journalists. Similarly, Turkey also significantly restricted the activities of NGOs [JURIST report] like human rights organizations and children’s groups and arrested opposition party leaders [JURIST report] alleging they were connected to terror organizations. In October, Human Rights Watch warned [JURIST report] that the emergency decrees put in place after the failed coup, had resulted in serious human rights violations.