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 86
 

The President has however been given a power to dissolve, on any grounds whatsoever, the TGNA which is symmetrical to the power of the TGNA to dissolve itself (on any grounds whatsoever, but with a majority of 3/5); the Turkish authorities refer to this as a “bilateral” renewal of the elections, because in both cases, the result is the renewal of both the presidential and the parliamentary elections. The President is free to decide whether and when to dissolve parliament, which is undoubtedly a means of pressure on the TGNA. However, dissolution would also entail the end of the President’s mandate, so that it may only be used as an extreme measure, which moreover the President is extremely unlikely to use during his or her second mandate, as he or she will not be allowed to run again, in contrast with the case in which dissolution is decided by the TGNA itself.