UPDATE: The Turkish newspaper I reported this from, the Daily Sabah, failed to mention that this was only the first step. It’s a big step, but the immunity has not been lifted yet.
So as I understand it now after consulting with a Turkish friend, this passed the committee and then needs to go to the full parliament for a secret vote. If it gets the 367 or so votes needed to amend the constitution, then it will be done. If not, it will go to a public referendum.
So the immunity is not lifted yet, but I expect it will be very soon.
—Original Post—
The Turkish parliament has now voted to amend their constitution and lift the prosecutorial immunities of HDP members (and others) that they accuse of being terrorist sympathizers. This will now give fascist Erdogan tremendous leverage over parliamentary members to force them to vote to rewrite the constitution to give Erdogan his presidential caliphate system:
DAILY SABAH – The proposal to lift parliamentary immunity was approved by the unanimous vote of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) late Monday.
The ruling AK Party submitted on April 12 a draft proposal to the speaker’s office to lift parliamentary immunity.
The proposal was signed by 316 AK Party lawmakers before submission.
The proposal amends the constitution with a temporary clause to remove immunity from prosecution from 129 lawmakers in the parliament.
As of late March, there were 43 CHP, 41 HDP, 22 AK Party and six MHP deputies facing the lifting of their parliamentary immunity. Many deputies had had multiple cases launched into them.
The request to lift parliamentary immunity was first made concerning statements by HDP members’ supporting PKK assertions of self-autonomy, which were made in December 2015 at the Democratic Society Congress (DTK).
So I guess after the brawl members reconvened to take this vote. We’ll see how this actually plays out in coming months, but I suspect Erdogan will no longer have to put his constitutional rewrite to the Turkish people for a referendum vote. He can just threaten terrorist charges against any member that stands in his way and they will likely vote for it.
Just remember what Erdogan’s chief Islamic fatwa giver said about this coming ‘presidential system’:
What this [presidential system] looks like is the Islamic caliphate system in terms of its mechanism. In this system the people choose the leader, the Caliph/Prince, and then all will pledge the Bay’ah [allegiance]…
So get ready for Caliph Erdogan, that’s coming next.