President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is poised to usher Turkey into a new era of innovation and advancement probably unmatched in the history of the Turkish republic and is relying on the speedy decision-making and application process that the new presidential system will provide for his administration.
Turkey starts on the course of a brand new system of government as the president becomes the chief executive naming his own Cabinet, while Parliament remains the sole legislative body that will supervise the executive.
Erdoğan has gained experience running Turkey efficiently for the past 16 years and came to the conclusion that despite the fact that he has propelled Turkey to among the top 17 economies in the world and has achieved economic and social development unmatched in history, the country needs a new system of government if it is to speed up the development process and become the top 10th economy in the world by 2023, the centennial anniversary of the republic of Turkey.
Erdoğan has turned Turkey into a genuine welfare state despite meager resources. He has created a sound health system where every citizen enjoys good quality health services and medication free of charge. This is an achievement that neither the British could do with their National Health System nor the Americans with Obamacare. Turkey has created a communications and transport system that has helped its citizens use the most advanced means of transportation at low costs. There are flaws in the education system, yet the quality of schools has improved; every city has a university or even several universities; and school books for primary, middle and high schools are free.
The president does not feel that this is enough and wants more to turn Turkey into a model welfare state as well as a model for social justice and a fully developed country. He wants to establish a viable defense industry that is domestically supplied. All of this progress requires speedy decision making and the application of decisions. Erdoğan believes that the former system of government was too sluggish, unproductive and allowed the bureaucracy to stall the implementation of decisions and projects. Thus, we switched to the presidential system.
The people approved this with a 51 percent majority in a referendum on April 16, 2017, and on June 24 rubber stamped the decision by giving Erdoğan a 52.5 percent mandate in the first round of votes. As of today, Turkey will be sailing on a brand new course that will allow it to make giant strides on the path of development in every aspect. Turkey has a new Cabinet that will speed up the implementation of decisions, while the presidential councils will set policies under the supervision of Erdoğan. Parliament will be able to supervise the administration.
The lifting of the state of emergency will be a good start for this new course.
The fact that Erdoğan will visit Brussels to attend the NATO summit July 11-12 will be a good opportunity for him to explain to Western leaders his policy goals and what to expect in the future. Let us hope Western leaders understand Erdoğan's goals and stop meddling in Turkey's internal affairs to stall him.On Friday, the new Cabinet will have its first meeting, and Erdoğan will get down to business in earnest. Good luck to all. May Allah help us in our long and tough journey.
