The current 16 ministers and Vice President Fuat Oktay became candidates for the Justice and Development Party in the general parliamentary elections to be held on 14 May 2023. However, these people did not resign from their posts. According to Article 76 of the Constitution, public officials cannot be candidates for parliament unless they resign from their duties. The third paragraph of Article 76 is as follows: “As long as judges and prosecutors, members of higher judicial bodies, faculty members in higher education institutions, members of the Council of Higher Education, civil servants of public institutions and organizations, and other public officials who are not workers in terms of their services, and members of the Armed Forces, resign from their duties they cannot be candidates and cannot be elected as members of parliament.”Similarly, in Article 18 of the Law on Elections of the Deputy No. 2839, titled "Persons to be resigned for candidacy"; "Judges and prosecutors, members of higher judicial bodies, faculty members in higher education institutions, members of the Council of Higher Education, Radio and Television Supreme Council, civil servants of public institutions and organizations and other public officials who are not workers in terms of their services, mayors who want to be candidates and officers and non-commissioned officers, the chairman and members of the provincial and district administrative boards and members of the municipal councils of the political parties that want to be candidates, the members of the provincial council, the professional organizations in the nature of public institutions and the trade unions, the public banks and the higher organizations and their enterprises or partnerships in which they participate are subjected to the rule that if a decision is made to renew the election one month before the start of the general and by-elections, those who take charge in the board of directors and supervisory boards cannot put forward their candidacy and cannot be nominated unless they want to leave their posts within seven days of the announcement of the renewal decision.’’Based on these provisions, many objections were made to the YSK on the grounds that the vice president and ministers were nominated without resigning. According to media reports, the YSK rejected these objections.[1] The said decision of the YSK was not published in the Official Gazette and on the Board's website. However, it is understood from the media reports that the decision of the YSK was based on the justification that the ministers were not public officials. In the YSK decision, it was emphasized that the Ministers were not counted in Article 18 of the Law No. 2839, and it was reminded that they took an oath in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey when they took office, and it was concluded that the appointed Ministers did not need to resign in order to become a parliamentary candidate. However, it should be noted that this decision is open to discussion and negatively affects the fairness of the election.<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="" target="_blank" fr-original-style="" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;"></a>First of all, it should be noted that the status of ministers has completely changed after the 2017 Constitutional Amendment. Ministers are no longer political personalities and members of the executive branch, but are the administrative agents of the President, who is the executive organ. In other words, it is necessary to explain how the ministers who do not need the vote of confidence of the legislature to take office and cannot be dismissed by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, who are directly responsible to the President, are not counted in the category of other public servants who are not workers in terms of their services. It is not possible to understand how the fact that the ministers took the oath in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey when they were taking office excludes them from the scope of public servants. The reason why ministers are not listed separately in Article 18 of the Law No. 2839 and 76 of the Constitution is clear. It is in accordance with the nature of the parliamentary system that ministers who were elected deputies and political figures before the 2017 amendment did not resign. However, the legal status of the ministers was not regulated during the transition to the presidential government system. In this case, there is no rule stipulating that they should be exempted from the status of public servant.On the other hand, the fact that the ministers do not resign makes it difficult for the elections to be held in a fair competition environment. Ministers make unlimited use of public resources and exercise their public powers during the election campaign period. Law enforcement officers affiliated to the Minister of Interior, who is a parliamentary candidate himself, carry out operations against the candidates of other political parties, and prosecutors under the control of the HSK, headed by the Minister of Justice, who is also a parliamentary candidate, can open investigations.&nbsp;Recently, the display of aid boxes belonging to AFAD in a minister's campaign vehicle also shows that public resources are used by ministers for election propaganda. * Ali Rıza Çoban – Constitutional Lawyer <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="" target="_blank" fr-original-style="" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;"></a><a fr-original-style="" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank" title=""></a> [1] https://www.haberturk.com/ysk-muhalefetin-basvurusunu-reddetti-3584112

The Freedom Observer

In the YSK decision, it was emphasized that the Ministers were not counted in Article 18 of the Law No. 2839, and it was reminded that they took an oath in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey when they took office, and it was concluded that the appointed Ministers did not need to resign in order to become a parliamentary candidate. However, it should be noted that this decision is open to discussion and negatively affects the fairness of the election.

Council of Higher Education ile ilgili hikayeler