Home > 5.3 Validity of the question > 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
 
 
 
Download file    
 
 
Paragraph 59
 

Article 104 lists the “duties and powers” of the President. This enumeration, however, is not exhaustive, as the President shall “also exercise powers of election and appointment, and perform the other duties conferred on him/her by the Constitution and laws” (Article 104(19)). Accordingly, certain competences which are not or no more listed in Article 104 appear elsewhere in the Constitution (for example, the power to renew parliamentary elections (Article 116); the declaration of the state of emergency (Article 119); the preparation of the budget and its submission to the TGNA (Article 161)). The competences of the President may even be extended by ordinary laws. In times when the President would be the leader of the political party with the majority in the TGNA, his/her competences could thus become almost unlimited. In addition, some of the new competences of the President are drafted in vague terms, leaving large space for interpretation and discretion.