Need to Amend Turkish Legislation to Ensure Political Participation in Turkey

Öz

The Turkish Constitution of 1982 states that political parties are indispensable elements of democratic political life. However many of the grounds for the prohibition and dissolution of political parties which are stated in the Law no. 2820 on Political Parties are incompatible with the law of the ECHR. In addition, the national election threshold of 10% which is stipulated in the Law no. 2839 on the election of members of the National Assembly is the highest of all the thresholds applied in Europe. The organizations such as the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the European Union call on Turkey to consider lowering it. In order to ensure political plurality and political participation in Turkey, the legislation such as the Law no. 2820 on Political Parties and the Law no. 2839 on the election of members of the National Assembly should be amended.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Political pluralism, political parties, national election threshold

Türkiye’de Siyasal Katılımı Sağlamak için Türk Mevzuatı’nda Değişiklik Yapma İhtiyacı

Öz

1982 Anayasası, siyasi partilerin, demokratik siyasal hayatın vazgeçilmez unsurları olduğunu belirtmektedir. Bununla birlikte 2820 sayılı Siyasi Partiler Kanunu’nda düzenlenen siyasi parti yasaklarının birçoğu, İnsan Hakları Avrupa Sözleşmesi Hukuku’nun ortaya koyduğu kriterlerle çelişmektedir. 2839 sayılı Milletvekili Seçimi Kanunu’nda öngörülen %10’luk ulusal seçim barajı ise Avrupa’da uygulanan * Assistant Professor Dr. in Constitutional Law, Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences, [e-mail] it is stated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), “democracy appears to be the only political model contemplated by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and, accordingly, the only one compatible with it” and “there can be no democracy without pluralism”. For the Court, since the political parties have an “essential role in ensuring pluralism and the proper functioning of democracy” which is “a fundamental feature of the European public order”, they are under the protection of articles 10 and 11 of the ECHRThe Turkish Constitution of 1982 also states that political parties are indispensable elements of democratic political life. However the constitutional criteria for prohibition and dissolution of political parties of the 1982 Constitution go beyond the criteria recognised as legitimate by the ECtHR and the Venice Commission. The Law no. 2820 on Political Parties of 1983 is also being criticized for not being compatible with the European criteria.Besides the Law no. 2820 on Political Parties, the Electoral Law no. 2839 on the Election of Members of the National Assembly stipulates that in a general election, political parties may not win seats unless they obtain nationally, more than 10% of the votes validly cast. This national threshold of 10% of the Turkish election system has also been questioned on its compatibility with the principle of a democratic state. Because of their importance for ensuring political pluralism, especially political participation in Turkey, in this article, firstly, related provisions concerning prohibition and dissolution of political parties in the Law on en yüksek orandaki seçim barajıdır. Avrupa Konseyi, AGİT, Avrupa Birliği gibi örgütler, Türkiye’ye, seçim barajını indirmesi çağrısında bulunmaktadır. Türkiye’de siyasi çoğulculuğun ve siyasi katılımın sağlanabilmesi için 2820 sayılı Siyasi Partiler Kanunu ile 2839 sayılı Milletvekili Seçimi Kanunu’nda değişikliklerin yapılması gereklidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Siyasi çoğulculuk, siyasi partiler, ulusal seçim barajı

Kaynakça

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