Alwaght- Turkish parliament has voted to approve the controversial bill aimed at boosting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan power on Saturday.
The bill that will change the Turkish political system into a presidential one was put to vote on Saturday, when the majority of 339 legislators voted for the bill.
The bill that is supposed to make changes to articles 8-18 of the Turkish constitutions was discussed and put to vote in two parts. The first part, articles 8-14 was put to vote and approved on Friday.
The final articles reportedly deal with the annual budget, removal of the Council of Ministers, regulations on presidential and parliamentary elections, and a provision that allows the president to retain ties to his or her political party.
Under the new mechanism, which still has to be put to a national referendum for final approval, Erdogan would be allowed to serve two five-year tenures in office, meaning he could be leading Turkey until 2029.
The constitutional reform package would also enable the president to appoint and dismiss government officials at his own discretion.
The AKP and far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) maintain that constitutional amendments will create a strong executive leadership contrary to the fragile coalition governments of the past.
The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has, however, expressed strong opposition to the changes, saying the legislators who ratify the bill will be betraying the public.
