Demirel's views on Constitutional amendment

Suleyman Demirel is mad about the claims that a president who wants the parliament to elect him again, would flirt with the Parliament. " I am not a person without individuality who would be flirting with the Parliament" said Mr.Demirel

       Suleyman Demirel responded to Milliyet's questions about the Constitutional amendment:
       Mr.Demirel: "The motion have already been signed by 406 parliamentarians. Turkey is about to amend the Constitution and if this amendment is realized, I will be elected as the President for another five years. This claim that I might be flirting with the Parliament to be able to get elected again, means that there is lack of trust in our Parliament. It means to say that the Parliament may be exploited if I flirt with them. It also means that you are not trusuting me, to assume that I may choose to flirt with the Parliament to be elected again. The systems in Europe allow Presidents to be elected twice, however such things had not happened. So what makes you think that it will happen in Turkey? If you think that I could be making my personal benefits a priority over the country's benefits, then you should not elect me. Your assurance should be the Parliament. If you do not believe in your Parliament, then you would have a problem carrying out the system. If all 406 parliamentarians do not vote in favor of the amendment even though they had signed the motion, then this would be a big problem for Turkey. If they have signed the amendment motion, it means that they believe in the amendment. So everyone who had signed the motion, should vote in favor of the amendment. I have come to where I am at the moment with the support of the nation behind me. And if I am given this position again, it will again be with the support of the nation. The Parliament, the nation's representatives, are completely independant in their decisions. Mr.Ecevit states the reason for wanting me as the President again with the following words, ' Suleyman Demirel's services for the country have been good until now. He is experienced and we want the country to stay stable. Turkey wants to benefit from his experience'. I have not asked anybody to elect me, they have come up with the suggestion. The first 10 years of the 2000 years is very important for Turkey. During my presidency for the past 7 years, Turkey have had 7-8 governments. There have been two elections. No one can claim the elections in 1995 and 1999 were anti-democratic. Turkey needs to adapt to the contemporary world in the following years and so needs certain reforms. The parliament is going to do these reforms and it is duty of the President to help the Parliament with its works of adapting to the modern world. I believe my experiences can help me do this."