Now that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has given his resignation and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) prepares for its emergency convention on May 22, sources close to the AK Party have said that the party is dedicatedly working to introduce a partisan presidential model and will present it to Parliament as soon as the new government is established. Under the previous model, Parliament nominated and elected the president, who had to be above politics. AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Nurettin Canikli said that once the new government is established the party aims to introduce the partisan presidential model to Parliament in June.
Although debates on transforming the country's governance from a parliamentary system to a semi-presidential or presidential regime continue, AK Party sources say the new model will put an end to chronic problems in the system of government that lead to ambiguity in executive authority between the prime minister and president.Explaining that the AK Party has not given up on establishing a new constitution with a presidential system, Canikli said that the party has the new model as a plan B if consensus is not reached during meetings on a new constitution and that they expect opposition parties to support the new model. Along with the new proposal for a partisan presidential system, the AK Party is continuing work on a new constitution with a presidential system. According to AK Party staff estimates, a new constitution with 100 articles will take approximately 90 days to complete, meaning there will be discussions on it seven days a week for three months. The staff also said that introducing and discussing a new constitution with the public and then addressing it in the Constitutional Committee and holding a referendum would take nearly two years.Because of this, AK Party sources said that in the current critical period, realizing a partisan presidential system is the most practical way forward. Sources also indicated that a mini package would be introduced to the Parliament speaker shortly after establishing the new government and receiving a vote of confidence. The AK Party also plans to take the mini package to a referendum to lift parliamentary immunities on the same day, thus allowing citizens to vote on both immunities and a partisan presidential system to replace the parliamentary model.The mini package includes amending Article 101 that forbids the president from associating with a political party, stating: "The president-elect, if a member of a party, shall sever his relations with his party and his status as a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey shall cease." In addition, Article 104, which says: "The president is the head of state," is to be amended to: "The president is the head of state and administration," to allow the president to chair Cabinet meetings as part of the post.