Election board has final say on matters
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 19, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - President Abdullah Gül and the political parties in Parliament met with the president of the Supreme Election Board, or YSK, yesterday about its decision to require voters to present identity cards displaying their national identification numbers in the elections.
In a recent memorandum to governors, the YSK said voters would be required to present identity cards that display their national identification numbers in order to vote in the upcoming local elections March 29. Political parties contest the decision, saying there are 3.5 million people who don’t have national identification numbers on their identity cards and they are likely to be ineligible to vote if they fail to renew their identity cards before the election date.
YSK President Muammer Aydın met with Gül yesterday at the Çankaya Presidential Palace upon his invitation. Speaking after the meeting, Aydın said he supplied Gül with information on the laws that require voters to have ID cards with national ID numbers on them to vote. Aydın said it was the election law that dictated the requirement. The YSK has the authority to make the final decision on the issue.
"Gül said Turkey had a good record abroad and the upcoming elections shouldn’t overshadow this reputation," Aydın said.
In an effort to encourage the YSK to bring flexibility to its decision, the representatives from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, also met yesterday with Aydın. They asked the YSK to enable the voters to vote in the election even if the cards do not show their national ID number.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Necati Çetinkaya of the AKP said the national identification numbers were already written in the election certificates sent by the YSK to the voters. "The voting rights, which are safeguarded by the Constitution, shouldn’t be taken away," he said.
The YSK was scheduled to convene late yesterday to make its decision on the identity card issue. The meeting was not yet held when the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press.
YSK President Muammer Aydın met with Gül yesterday at the Çankaya Presidential Palace upon his invitation. Speaking after the meeting, Aydın said he supplied Gül with information on the laws that require voters to have ID cards with national ID numbers on them to vote. Aydın said it was the election law that dictated the requirement. The YSK has the authority to make the final decision on the issue.
"Gül said Turkey had a good record abroad and the upcoming elections shouldn’t overshadow this reputation," Aydın said.
In an effort to encourage the YSK to bring flexibility to its decision, the representatives from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, also met yesterday with Aydın. They asked the YSK to enable the voters to vote in the election even if the cards do not show their national ID number.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Necati Çetinkaya of the AKP said the national identification numbers were already written in the election certificates sent by the YSK to the voters. "The voting rights, which are safeguarded by the Constitution, shouldn’t be taken away," he said.
The YSK was scheduled to convene late yesterday to make its decision on the identity card issue. The meeting was not yet held when the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press.