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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2017)
Page 6 The Skanner April 19, 2017 News Turkish Opposition Party Files to Have Referendum Voided By SUZAN FRASER and ZEYNEP BILGINSOY Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s prime minis- ter on Tuesday called on the opposition to respect the result of a referen- dum that will give sweep- ing new powers to the of- fice of the president, but the main opposition par- ty formally requested to have the vote voided. Sunday’s vote gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “yes” camp a narrow win for constitu- tional changes that will abolish the office of the prime minister and con- “ mer. Turkey’s parlia- ment agreed Tuesday to extend for another three months the emergen- cy powers allowing the government to rule by decree. Bulent Tezcan, deputy chairman of the opposi- tion Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said the party filed a formal re- quest seeking the refer- endum’s annulment due to voting irregularities. He said the party would use all legal paths to chal- lenge the vote. “We demand the can- cellation of this referen- dum,” Tezcan said. The opposition has cit- used to verify they are genuine, as required by Turkish law. Monitors from the Or- ganization for Security and Cooperation in Eu- rope, who also listed nu- merous irregularities, said the board’s move undermined important election safeguards. The assessment drew a harsh rebuke from Erdogan and criticism from Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. “Efforts to cast a shad- ow on the result of the vote by spreading ru- mors of fraud are futile and in vain,” Yildirim said. “The will of the peo- ple was freely reflected It is clear that the High Electoral Board is not receiving its power from the people, the law or the constitution, but rather from a specific center, a specific political authority vert Turkey’s system of government from a par- liamentary to a presiden- tial one. The referendum took place under a state of emergency that was de- clared following a failed military coup last sum- ed several problems with how the vote was con- ducted. But it has been particularly outraged by an electoral board deci- sion, announced as the polls closed Sunday, to accept ballots that didn’t bear the official stamps into the ballot boxes, and this business is over. Ev- eryone and all sections — and the main opposi- tion party in particular — must show respect. It is wrong to speak after the people have spoken.” Republican People’s AP PHOTO/BURHAN OZBILICI Sunday vote gives sweeping new powers to the office of the president, effective in 2019 Hundreds of people queue in front of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Board in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. They submit petitions requesting that the electoral authority reverse a controversial decision during Sunday’s referendum to accept ballots without official stamps. In their petitions Tuesday, the residents of Ankara said the decision and other reported irregularities were in open violation of the law Party leader Kemal Kilic- daroglu accused the elec- toral board of bias and of favoring the governing party. “It is clear that the High Electoral Board is not re- ceiving its power from the people, the law or the constitution, but rather from a specific center, a specific political author- ity,” Kilicdaroglu told his party’s lawmakers in An- kara Tuesday. The board’s decision to accept ballots with- out official stamps was like “changing the rules midgame,” he said. Hundreds of people lined up outside election board offices in Ankara and Istanbul to submit petitions requesting the board reverse its pro- nouncement. In Ankara, Fatma Korur, 46, said she was exercising her consti- tutional right to object to “illegal” results. An- other petitioner, Fusun Cicekoglu, 61, said, “I will not accept my ‘no’ vote be voided and I will not accept ‘yes’ ballots cast illegally.” The referendum allows Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since he became prime minister in 2003 and then president in 2014, to fulfill his long- held ambition for a pres- idency with executive powers. The referendum ap- proves 18 constitutional amendments that allow the president to appoint ministers, senior gov- ernment officials and to hold sway over who sits on Turkey’s highest ju- dicial body, as well as to issue decrees and to de- clare states of emergen- cy. The new system takes full effect at the next election, currently slat- ed for November 2019. Other changes are to be implemented sooner, in- cluding scrapping a re- quirement that the pres- ident not be a member of any political party. This would allow Erdogan to rejoin the governing AKP he co-founded, or to lead it. On Tuesday, Yildirim said Erdogan would be invited to join the party as soon as the official re- sults are declared. “We will invite our founding chairman to our party and we will feel a huge elation to see him among us,” he said. Election monitors from the Organization for Se- curity and Cooperation in Europe were seen en- tering the High Electoral Board headquarters in Ankara. Tana de Zulue- ta, head of the observer mission, told reporters that the group had paid a courtesy call and held a “cordial” meeting with electoral board mem- bers. Asked to comment on Erdogan’s rebuke, de Zu- lueta said: “I don’t have an opinion. We are in- vited by the Turkish au- thorities to observe. We share our report and we completed our mandate.” In Istanbul, thousands of “no” supporters con- tinued their demonstra- tions Tuesday, carrying banners that said “Don’t give in” and chanting “Thief, Murderer, Erdo- gan!” Protesters were fewer in number in Ankara, where they were out- numbered by police offi- cers. “We are here today for the sake of Turkey, to live together, to take a stand for our votes,” protester Tezcan Karakus Candan said. U.S. President Don- ald Trump, meanwhile, ignored the concerns about voting irregular- ities and congratulated Erdogan on his referen- dum victory. The two leaders also discussed Turkey’s support for the U.S. re- sponse to a Syrian chem- ical weapons attack and efforts to counter the Islamic State group, ac- cording to a White House summary of their phone call Monday. Kam Williams Movie Previews at Award winning movie crit ic Revealing celebrity s interview NEW MOVIES OPENING EVERY WEEK!