Majority of Turks against presidential system

PanARMENIAN.Net - An overwhelming majority of respondents to a survey have said Turkey should continue with its parliamentary system of government rather than switching to a presidential system in a new constitution, which is currently being drafted, Today’s Zaman reports.

According to the Social and Political Trends in Turkey survey, which was conducted by Kadir Has University across 26 provinces in the country, 65.8 percent of respondents said they favor keeping the parliamentary system in Turkey in the new constitution. Only 21.2 percent of the 1,000 respondents said they support switching to a presidential system, while 4.4 percent said they favor a semi-presidential system.

When asked about their views regarding who should be president if Turkey were to adopt a presidential system, 34.3 percent said they would like to see the current prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as president. He was followed by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu with 12 percent and incumbent President Abdullah Gül with 10 percent.

The adoption of a presidential system has been a common point of debate in Turkey, with Prime Minister Erdoğan, who supports a presidential system, frequently bringing the issue to the public's attention over the past year. Many speculate that Erdoğan hopes to become Turkey's first president under a new presidential system in the 2014 elections as he is unable to run as prime minister again due to his Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) self-dictated rules, which do not allow deputies to run for more than three consecutive times.