Adding to the concerns over the timing of the amendments, it is problematic that the March and April amendments were adopted in a hasty manner without a proper consultation of the relevant stakeholders, including the opposition parties and civil society.15 In numerous opinions, the Venice Commission and ODIHR have stressed the importance of a comprehensive and inclusive public consultation when adopting legal frameworks on issues of major importance for society, such as major amendments to electoral law.16 In the current case, the amendments were moreover made in a State of Emergency, limiting the space for democratic debate and the free expression of a plurality of views.17 While some amendments are technical, several amendments may have significant consequences for the exercise of suffrage rights (passive and active), the electoral result or the administration of elections. As emphasised by ODIHR and the Venice Commission on previous occasions, considering the importance of these amendments, as well as the 2017 constitutional reform’s effect on the existing electoral system (see 3 and 4 below), it is vital that they take place following an inclusive and thorough process of public consultation.18 Hasty and non-inclusive amendments to fundamental elements of the electoral law such as in the 2018 amendments, challenge the very legitimacy of the Turkish electoral system.
15 See PACE Doc. 14608, Observation of the early presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey (24 June 2018), par. 24; ODIHR, Republic of Turkey, Early Presidential and parliamentary Elections 24 June 2018, p. 6-7.
16 See CDL-AD(2018)21 Romania Opinion on Draft Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, par. 39; CDL-PI(2018)007 Romania Preliminary Opinion on Draft Amendments to Law No. 303/2004 on the Statute of Judges and Prosecutors, Law No. 304/2004 on Judicial Organization, and Law No. 317/2004 on the Superior Council for Magistracy, par.. 30-31; Opinion on the Draft Law on the Review of the Constitution of Romania, par.. 25-30; CDL-AD(2013)010, Opinion on the draft New Constitution of Iceland, par. 17, CDL-AD(2014)010; CDL-AD(2011)001, Opinion on Three Legal Questions Arising in the Process of Drafting the New Constitution of Hungary, par.. 15-19. See also CDL-AD(2011)003rev Report on the Rule of Law, par. 41.
17 See PACE Doc. 14608, Observation of the early presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey (24 June 2018), par. 12-13; ODIHR EOM final report on the 24 June 2018 early presidential and parliamentary elections.
18 See CDL-AD(2017)012, Republic of Moldova - Joint Opinion on the Draft Laws on Amending Certain Legislative Acts (Electoral System for the Election of the Parliament), par. 39.
