TÜMİKOM

Political Parties have answered the ten questions of TUMIKOM about 'The Transparency and Ethics in Politics'...

The Transparency and Ethic in politics: A panel named ‘It is time to Promise’ was made.

A roundtable conference was made with the contribution of The Association of Transparency International- Turkey, National Democratic Institute, politics and the representatives of NOG. The attendees of the meeting that was made on 19/09/2002 are as below:

THE POLITICAL PARTIES

On behalf of AKP; Abdullah GÜL
On behalf of ANAP; Berna TÜRKİLİ
On behalf of CHP; Oya ARASLI
On behalf of DYP; Turhan GÜVEN
On behalf of DSP; Aydın TÜMEN
On behalf of MHP; Şevket Bülent YAHNİCİ
On behalf of YTP; Ercan KARAKAŞ

NAMES OF THE NGOs THAT WERE ATTENDED TO THE PANEL
Bee Movement, Istanbul Parliamentary Committees (MİKOM), The Association for Supporting the male Candidates (Ka-der) The associations For Liberal Thoughts, initiative for Clean Policy, Association for Social, Economical and Political Researches (TESAV), TÜSİAD, Association for Turkish Democracy (TDV), TÜSES.

The meeting was made incrementally. Each speaker recognized five minutes. Erciş Kurtuluş was the chief of the first session. Sedat Ergin (newspaperman of Hurriyet) was the chief of the second session.

Mustafa Durna was invited to 1. Istmikom meeting. Mustafa Durna asked the questions in below to the politicians. And added that the answers will be declared to public in October.

10 QUESTIONS OF TUMIKOM

10 Questions of İstmikom asked on 19/10/2006.On 1 June 2003 in 6th Turkey Summit MİKOMS became TUMIKOM, as it possessed its organization. And TUMIKOM would follow the 10 Questions asked by İstmikom.

1. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for making the ‘ Political parties Law’ more democratically?
2. QUESTION: Is party going to vote for the ‘Political Ethic Law’, which also includes the pulpit immunity and parliamentary immunity?
3. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for ‘Political Ethic Law’ to promote the electoral system to a democratic level?
4. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for Political Ethic Law that will provide the profit-making companies of the parliamentarians transfer to the administrators and also that will also block to work in another job that will bring in good promises?
5. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for the law that will provide all the workings of the government in transparent and will let the citizens to reach information easily?
6. QUESTION: Is your party going to make the law that will necessitate the parliamentarians to expand their assets?
7. QUESTION: Is your party going to make a law that will provide to access the information of the parliamentarian’s immunity and provide to publish the votes of the parliamentarians everyday?
8. QUESTION: What is the total election budget of your party including monetary and good aids? What is the rate of the aid that was given by the government for the elections in this budget?
9. QUESTION: SDid your party take monetary and good aids for the election budget? If yes, could you give the list of the persons or the foundations that gave at least 1000 YTL or equivalent?
10. QUESTION: If your party rise to ascendance what are the first three issues that you are going to evaluate?

THE ANSWERS OF THE PARTIES AACCORDING TO THE MESSAGING ORDER:

19 OCTOBER 2002
On behalf of New Turkey Party (NTP) Reşat KADAİFÇİLER (NTP Responsible of Election Headquarter and Member of Party Council)

23 OCTOBER 2002
On behalf of Nationalist Movement Party (NMP) Şevket Bülent YAHNİCİ (Vice Chairman)

23 OCTOBER 2002
On behalf of Motherland Party (MP) Berna TÜRKİLİ (Parliamentary Candidate)

23 OCTOBER 2002
On behalf of Justice and Development Party (JDP) Abdullah GÜL (Vice Chairman)

TEN PROMISES GIVEN TO TUMIKOM

1. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for making the ‘ Political parties Law’ more democratically?

NTP (New Turkey Party)
Set of with renews of the politicians New Turkey Party, for becoming more productive and democratic and also transparent of the political parties, the required changes would be made in Constitution and in Election System.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)
First condition of MHP is to make a law with the participation of NGOS and Political Parties. We surely vote the law made by this kind of a preparation.

MP (Motherland Party)
ANAP is the only part in the parliamentary that makes an effort to change the law of Political Parties and election system. And also Anap is the only Party that publishes this issue in its election report.

JDP (Justice and Development Party)
Political parties are the non-governmental organisations that work by transmitting the social, economical and cultural requests of the public. To transmit the agenda of the public to the agenda of government AK Party is going to change the existent Political Parties Law.

2. QUESTION: Is party going to vote for the ‘Political Ethic Law’, which also includes the pulpit immunity and parliamentary immunity?

NTP (New Turkey Party)
The immunity System of the parliamentarians is going to be arranged again and all the prosecutions except political works of the parliamentarians is going to be done freely. Ethic and money crimes will be uncovered from immunity.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)
All the crimes of the parliamentarians except legislation performances will be judged as the normal citizens.
The corruption claims about the president and the ministers will be judged in court of appeal. The constitutional arrangement will be made. And the duty of the council of state will be made by court of appeal. (Election Statement page 112)

MP (Motherland Party)
We have a proposal about restriction of immunity in the Council. Due to all our efforts we could not able to get support from the other parties. In 55th government we tried for revocation of the privilege of immunity. But we could not make the law because of the objection of CHP (Republican People’s Party)

JDP (Justice and Development Party)
Our party is going to remove the institutional difficulties about the judgment of the parliamentarians and the ministers. And also the difficulties about the judgment of the public officials will be made.

3. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for ‘Political Ethic Law’ to promote the electoral system to a democratic level?

NTP (New Turkey Party)
‘Political Ethic Law’ will be made for gaining the self-respect of the parliamentary.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)
We will vote for the proposal with a consensus.

MP (Motherland Party)
Making the ‘Political Ethic Law is on the subscription in election report of ANAP. We have also a proposal about this issue in the council.

JP (Justice and Development Party)
According to the constitution the election system should reflect the justice and stabilization. Under these principles, the changes will be made in the name of reflecting the commands of the public and to strength the democracy.

4. OUESTION: Is your party going to vote for Political Ethic Law that will provide the profit-making companies of the parliamentarians transfer to the administrators and also that will also block to work in another job that will bring in good promises?

NTP (New Turkey Party)
According to the Ethic Law the parliamentarians will transfer all their commercial affairs to the administrations and also the parliamentarians will not be able work in another job.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)
The officers in charges are also going to will declare their assets.
A legal arrangement will be made for the Parliamentarians, mayors, and official workers to declare their assets after their duty time finishes. (Election Report Page: 112)
The legal arrangements that will not allow the parliamentarians to work in another job will be made. (Election Report Page: 112)

MP (Motherland Party)
In the election report of our party and in the reconstruction plan that we declared to public last year we have promises to make the parliamentarians declare their assets. In other words, MP worked for this issue before the elections. However, as in the political parties law we could not find the support for the election law also.

JDP (Justice and Development Party)
In our country where the political policy is polluted, to make the politics and the politicians respected is one of the main issues. The necessary changes will be made.

5. QUESTION: Is your party going to vote for the law that will provide all the workings of the government in transparent and will let the citizens to reach information easily?

NTP (New Turkey Party)
The legislative body will choose public inspector And the public inspector will inform the public about the parliamentary.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)
Yes

MP (Motherland Party)
In 1998 Anavatan Party made a proposal about this issue but this proposal could not be a law due to we could not find enough support.

JDP (Justice and Development Party)
As it is declared in our election report, the management of the government will be arranged again and all the legal measures will be taken for make the transparency in all the government institutions.

6.QUESTION: Is your party going to make the law that will necessitate the parliamentarians to expand their assets?

NTP (New Turkey Party)
All the parliamentarians will declare their assets to the chairman of T.B.M.M.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party)
The legal procedure that will make the Ministers, parliamentarians, mayors and all the official workers declare their asset. (Election Report page: 111)

JP (Justice and Development Party)
According to our Party Programme the asset of the all the elected persons will be declared to the public in a transparent way.

7. QUESTION: Is your party going to make a law that will provide to access the information of the parliamentarian’s immunity and provide to publish the votes of the parliamentarians everyday?

NTP (New Turkey Party):
The TGNA workings are going to focus on the commissions’ meetings of which the duties and the cognitions would be expanded and increased. Commission investigation, examination, synthesis methods are going to be carried out. These workings are going to be announced to society by live broadcasts.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party):
Yes, again, we vote for a proposal which will be hanged on compromise and searching for consensus.

MP (Motherland Party):
The private statue of the parliament should be rearranged in a way that not only including the problems about the attendance of the parliamentarians to the summits and the commissions but also considering the whole processing mechanism. One of the reasons, which cause to estrange TGNA from its basic characteristics of being a problem solving institution, is the missing and the errors founded in the existing the private statue. Our party has also studies about this subject.

JDP (Justice and Development Party)
The JDP will continue to its excellent performance about making parliamentarians participate to the parliament activities. The parliamentarians will not only participate in parliament activities but also inform the electors in their election district about these activities regularly.

8. QUESTION: What is the total election budget of your party including monetary and good aids? What is the rate of the aid that was given by the government for the elections in this budget?

NTP (New Turkey Party):
NTP could not take the state aid although it had deserved. Whole activities are performed with the payments of the candidates for parliament candidacy, the voluntary contributions of the candidates and members and with the paying of personal expenditures by the members and the candidates themselves.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party):
The whole budget is composed of the state aid. Except this, no aid has been taken for the election. (Except the personal expenditures of the candidates in their provinces.)

MP (Motherland Party):
Our party has taken 11,5 trillion Turkish Liras for the November 3rd Elections as state aid and again in the beginning of new-year, taken 5,7 trillion Turkish Liras as treasury aid. The aids collected from the candidates for the parliamentary candidacy is approximately 400 billion. The election activities are performed with a budget of 17,7 trillion TL in total.

JDP (Justice and Development Party)
From the establishment of our party, three-month period income-expenditure table has been announced to public opinion in our web site www.akparti.com.tr . The first and so far only party to implement such kind of activity is JDP in Turkey. The lastly announced income-expenditure table has been added for your attention.

9. QUESTION: Did your party take monetary and good aids for the election budget? If yes, could you give the list of the persons or the foundations that gave at least 1000 YTL or equivalent?

NTP (New Turkey Party):
NTP will declare the donations after completing its election campaign. NTP takes each aid against receipt.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party):
Our party has not taken any donation (except the candidate’s personal expenditures in their provinces).

MP (Motherland Party):
Our party has not taken any aid in cash or in kind from any individual. The election campaign is financed form the party’s budget.

JDP (Justice and Development Party):
It can be seen from the attached income-expenditure table that from where and in what quantity the incomes had been gotten and the usage of them.

10. QUESTION: If your party rises to ascendance what are the first three issues that you are going to evaluate?

NTP (New Turkey Party):
Our party sees the inequality, unproductiveness and unemployment as the main three problems of our society whether the party in the power or not. NTP will be the follower of the subjects “Clean Society, Clean Politics”.

NMP (Nationalist Movement Party):
Struggle against corruption, struggle against poverty and prevent the corruption in education and morality…

MP (Motherland Party):
The first priority of our party is to continue, without interruptions, the process of membership of Turkey to EU by taking deliberation calendar. Another priority is to continue the structural changes in economy that are still implemented, without any relaxation and populism. To implementing new projects in order to provide new employment areas (to abolished corporation taxes in 50 provinces, to activate the incentive policies and etc) is another priority of us.

JDP (Justice and Development Party):
When JDP will come to power, it will struggle against the corruption by taking measures on restructuring the state, providing transparency in public administration, passing beyond the centralized structure, increasing the social control on and participation in the administration, implementing the reforms in law and justice system which will provide the full justice in time and etc. Secondly, the struggle against poverty will be held with a reform program which is going to be oriented to restructure the public administration, repair the conditions for the local and foreign investors, accelerate the privatization, improve the economic sector and social security systems and increase the effectiveness in agriculture. Thirdly, JDP plans to realize a democratization movement about realization of a democratic administration which is processing perfect and depending on human rights, improving the representative democracy towards participative democracy by opening the ways of pluralist and participative democratic political process to NGOs. Thereby, both our people will reach the modernized democratic administration that they deserve and also, the barriers existing in the process of entering to EU will be overcome speedily.

ATTITUDES OF RPP, TPP AND DLP IN THE VIEW OF THE QUESTIONS ABOUT ‘POLITICAL ETHICS AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE POLITICS’

RPP (Republican People’s Party) Oya Araslı:
Misses Oya Araslı clearly mentioned in the September 19th meeting that RPP will work for revocation of the privileged immunity. However, she did not give clear answers to the other questions. Her party office had been called again and again in order to make her give written answers. Her secretary directed us to the General Secretary of RPP, Mister Onder Sav, with mentioning that Misses Araslı was out of Ankara. But we could reach the secretary of Mister Onder Sav. It is said to us by his secretary that Mister Onder Sav suggested to read the “RPP’s Election Declaration” as an answer for the questions. WRITTEN ANSWER HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN.

TPP (True Path Party) Turhan Güven:
Our friend Mustafa Durna made a phone conversation with Mister Turhan Guven. In this phone call, Mister Güven mentioned, “he would try to answer the questions but if not so till the deadline (October 23rd, 2002), he would like to be excused”. WRITTEN ANSWER HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN.

DLP (Democratic Left Party) Aydın Tümen
The office of Mister Aydın Tümen was called again and again. The Ten Question was faxed again upon the request of Mister Aydın Tümen. In the last call, his secretary stated that Mister Tümen was out of Ankara, but he has been informed about the questions. WRITTEN ANSWER HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN.

We, as being the Association for Parliamentary Monitoring Committees, thanks to Mister Reşat KADAİFÇİLER from NTP, Mister Şevket Bülent YAHNİCİ from NMP, Misses Berna TÜRKİLİ from MP and Mister Abdullah GÜL from JDP, who have been answering our questions about Transparency in Politics and Political Ethics in the name of their parties.

We accept the given answers as promises given to the people and the electors. We are going to be the followers of the implementation of these promises.

We will hold the questions alive till taking the answers from the parties who talked in ‘Transparency in Politics and Political Ethics’ Panel but has not given written answers to the questions.

We hope that the ‘Transparency in Politics and Political Ethics’ Panel, which was held in Turkey for the first time, the Ten Questions and the given answers and non-given answers will be the starting point of effecting the relations between the voters and the elected, between the voters and the parties positively. We, as being the Association for Parliamentary Monitoring Committees, will continue to our workings for making our parliament more prestigious and making our democracy reach more developed and contemporary level.

NOTE:
Our written press declaration about the subject sent on October 24th, 2002, was also sent on the same day to the parties that have given answers and not in order to inform them about the answers.