By Nergis Demirkaya
“The opposition called for a quorum check, and when the required majority was not met, parliament was adjourned.”
In recent months, this recurring news in parliament is not merely a simple quorum crisis. Behind it lie both structural problems inherent in the presidential system and the power struggle between the government and the opposition, spilling into parliamentary proceedings.
Let’s first look at the ruling side. When the new presidential system came into force in 2018, the government promised that parliament would gain strength by becoming independent of the executive.
Lawmakers would draft bills based on societal needs, while ministries would implement them. But that is not what happened. As in the previous parliamentary system, ministries prepared the laws, and ruling party MPs found themselves merely endorsing and defending proposals whose content they learned through bureaucratic channels. Moreover, ministers appointed from outside parliament wanted the bills they presented — after being approved by the president — to pass without a single comma changed.
This system, and the shift toward a presidency-centered political structure, has distanced lawmakers from the parliament. As widely reported, the general assembly that should function with around 200 deputies has frequently been forced to adjourn due to insufficient attendance from the ruling AKP’s 275 MPs — despite the strong attendance by MHP deputies.
DRIVING LAWMAKERS AWAY FROM PARLIAMENT
A senior politician, who served long years on the AKP’s executive board and who remains a lawmaker known for his consistent attendance in the assembly, listed reasons for the problem as follows:
- The public’s agenda and the parliament’s agenda are not the same. We are face-to-face with voters, yet laws come from above—from the presidency. Because there is no shared agenda, MPs drift away from parliament.
- Our MPs have expertise, but it is not properly utilized. Parliamentary commissions do not function effectively, which reduces lawmakers’ engagement.
- The most absent MPs are younger ones who did not come through party organizations and lack prior political experience. They do not adhere to party discipline. Candidate lists are problematic in this regard.
- Among the 275 MPs, nearly 30 are former ministers and many former deputy chairs. These figures, having held high-level executive roles, find it difficult to regularly attend parliamentary work.
FOR THE AKP, THE PROBLEM IS THE OPPOSITION
For sure, these issues reduce the MPs’ engagement with the parliament. But party administrators put the blame squarely on the opposition.
A senior AKP parliamentary official, speaking to Turkey in Depth, notes that quorum calls have surged compared to the pre-2023 election period: “Some days, quorum is requested ten times. The opposition says it is the government’s duty to keep parliament running, but the MPs have other engagements. Adjourning parliament in this way actually harms the opposition, because they lose the opportunity to voice criticism from the podium.”
AN IGNORED OPPOSITION DOES WHAT IT CAN
The opposition, however, sees the quorum calls from a different perspective. A lawmaker, who served as a minister in the AKP until shifting to the opposition, pointed to the ruling party’s approach to the law-making process. “We are debating a law to protect children from the harmful effects of digital media. This concerns all of us. We made proposals to improve it. They initially welcomed them, then rejected all of them. The result became an entirely prohibitive law. In such a case, is it not our right to use all available tools — including quorum calls — to delay or even block the legislation?”
From this viewpoint, the opposition’s primary motivation is to block legislation that ignores their criticisms and warnings — and to force the government into making changes.
OPERATIONS AGAINST THE CHP ARE ALSO PARALYZING PARLIAMENT
Another factor behind the parliamentary deadlock is the recent surge in operations targeting the CHP. Party officials — facing a cycle of detentions and arrests of mayors and provincial heads — say they cannot allow the government to proceed as if everything is normal. They appear determined to use every procedural tool, including quorum calls, to block parliamentary proceedings.
PROCEDURAL CHANGE ON THE WAY
The AKP appears determined to respond to the ongoing quorum crisis with a change in the parliamentary rules of procedure.
There has been discussion of a proposal to cut allowances and payments for MPs absent during sessions that are closed due to a lack of quorum. The AKP has started working on a bill of 8–10 articles. However, this plan has also sparked backlash even from the ruling party members. An AKP MP, known for regularly attending the assembly, said: “Instead of strengthening the dignity of parliament and its members, a ‘show up or lose your pay’ approach does not suit us. It humiliates the lawmakers.”
Administrators in the opposition parties warn that ignoring the main causes will only escalate tension in the parliament. In the end, the expected bill to resolve the quorum crisis risks triggering an even deeper systemic crisis.
