Home > 1.3.2.1 Ballots and election material > TÜRKIYE - Opinion on the Amendments to the Constituion Adopted by the Grand National Assembly on 21 January 2017 and to be Submitted to a National Referendum on 16 April 2017
 
 
 
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Paragraph 24
 

The modalities of the parliamentary debate on the constitutional amendments also raised criticism in Turkey. The daily debates lasted, virtually uninterrupted, from the afternoon till the following morning. Such lengthy sessions led to a very quick completion of the procedure: at both readings in the plenary, the amendments were discussed and adopted within twelve days (the debates within the constitutional committee had lasted nine days). However, after the deliberations were completed, the text was kept within parliament for thirteen days, and the President held it for fourteen more days. It is difficult to reconcile the rushed discussions in parliament with these delays.