With the local elections over, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has refocused on plans to draft a new civilian constitution as it promised shortly before last month's polls.

Contrary to expectations that the new constitution would contain only a few changes to a number of articles, the governing party plans to expand the scope of these changes and divide the constitutional reforms into two packages that will be voted on separately in Parliament. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid a surprise visit to Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan on Tuesday to restart the AK Party's efforts to reform the Constitution. Turkey's Constitution, drafted under military rule, has frequently been the center of harsh criticism as it denies individuals desired rights and freedoms. In February, Erdoğan announced plans to accelerate efforts to draft a civilian constitution. He said the AK Party had devised two alternate plans to pass the new constitution in Parliament. According to Erdoğan, the party would pass the new civilian constitution in Parliament either as a whole or in fragments. The final version would then be presented to the public in a referendum.In 2007, the AK Party geared up to write a new civilian constitution that could meet the country's contemporary needs, forming an independent commission headed by Professor Ergun Özbudun to draft the document. However, work on the constitution was shelved when a closure case was filed against the AK Party in March of last year on charges of anti-secularism.According to senior AK Party officials, the prime minister is planning to divided the desired changes to the Constitution into two packages and have Parliament pass them separately. The first package will cover topics such as the clarification of the tenures of President Abdullah Gül and Parliament, changes to the Law on Political Parties and the Election Law, the establishment of a committee on political ethics, the right of individuals to petition the Constitutional Court, the right of civil servants to bargain collectively and go on strike, the protection of personal data and the abolishment of the 10 percent threshold for political parties to be represented in Parliament.Toptan to seek compromise on new constitutionParliament Speaker Köksal Toptan has said he will exert new efforts to find a compromise on the way to making amendments to the Constitution.After having talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the issue yesterday, Toptan said changes to the Constitution regarding an ombudsman, the Political Parties Law and the Elections Law need to be made as soon as possible."We tried this before in the Compromise Commission in September, but this was because we did not have a concrete text to work on. Now we are planning to have a text prepared with changes involved so people can look at it and propose other ideas," he said.He also noted that several civil society organizations, the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) and bar associations have made calls for a new constitution. İstanbul Today's Zaman with wires The exact content of the second package will be determined after deliberations with other parties represented in Parliament as the AK Party wishes to change the Constitution based on a compromise among all political parties. The AK Party plans to include an increase in the number of Constitutional Court members from 11 to 19, the election of eight of these members by Parliament and a restriction limiting their terms in office to nine years in the second package. Starting next week, Toptan will have talks with party leaders on plans to change the Constitution. Toptan will advise these leaders to reach a compromise on planned reforms and will submit a proposal of eight items to them to this end. However, the governing party is still worried that the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) may take the new constitution to the Constitutional Court to have it annulled after it is passed by Parliament. A political party needs the support of at least 110 deputies to challenge a constitutional amendment in the top court. The CHP usually cooperates with the Democratic Left Party (DSP) to have amendments annulled. The number of CHP and DSP deputies in Parliament is currently 109. These two parties, however, may seek the support of independent deputies in Parliament to apply to the Constitutional Court against the proposed reforms.The AK Party has also considered forming a committee under the leadership of Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek to have talks with opposition leaders if Toptan's talks fail to produce the desired results. The ruling party will devote the majority of its agenda for May to the planned changes to the Constitution. Nihat Ergün, deputy chairman of the AK Party parliamentary group, told Today's Zaman that his party wishes to have Parliament approve the first package of constitutional reforms before Parliament goes on summer holiday. "In the meantime, we will work on the second package of changes, which we plan to bring to the national agenda shortly after Parliament returns from holiday in September," he said.Erdoğan also hopes to have Parliament elect its new parliament speaker shortly after Toptan's term in office expires in July. Toptan recently announced that he would run for a second term as parliament speaker. The majority of AK Party deputies, however, do not welcome Toptan's candidacy. It is thought that the AK Party will not nominate Toptan for the post again. Toptan's term expires on July 22. Parliament would have to hold an extraordinary gathering in August to elect its new speaker. However, as Parliament will be on holiday in August, Toptan's term in office may be extended to Sept. 1, when the new legislative year begins. Political parties in Parliament, however, seem to be failing to reach a compromise on the planned changes to the Constitution. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Secretary-General Cihan Paçacı said his party would support any effort that would serve to the benefit of the Turkish nation, but noted that this does not mean the MHP will cooperate with the AK Party on every issue. Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) Diyarbakır deputy Aysel Tuğluk stated that Turkey desperately needed a civilian constitution, adding that her party would cooperate with any political party on Turkey's path toward modernization and democratization. The CHP, however, is expected to reject any move to change the Constitution as many of its officials have expressed unwillingness to bow to the AK Party's efforts to draft a new constitution.  23 April 2009, ThursdayERCAN YAVUZ  ANKARA