The AK Party is taking a cautious approach to MHP leader Devlet Bahceli’s call for the People’s Democratic Party’s (HDP) to be shut down. The AK Party isn’t keen on the move, believing it will lose Kurdish voters and any Kurdish-oriented party established in its place will be more strongly represented at the parliament. Moreover, AK Party sources said that backing the HDP’s shutdown will create a dilemma since the AK Party took steps to complicate party closures through constitutional amendments in 2010.

Instead of shutting down the HDP’s, the AK Party is aiming to use the judicial remedy by lifting the legislative immunities of HDP deputies against whom the summaries of proceedings have been prepared to charges of terrorism. The summary of proceedings prepared against these deputies were just sent to the parliament and are currently with the Joint Committee. The expectation is that the AK Party will immediately deal with the summary of proceedings and the legislative immunities of HDP deputies will be lifted in the upcoming days.

33 MORE SUMMARIES OF PROCEEDING

Last week, 33 more summaries of proceeding for lifting the legislative immunities were submitted to the parliament. The summaries against 9 HDP deputies including Fatma Kurtulan, Garo Paylan, Huda Kaya, Meral Danis Bestas, Hakki Saruhan Oluc, Serpil Kemalbay Pekgozegu, Sezai Temelli, Pero Dundar and Pervin Buldan due to the 2014 Kobani protests are among them. “Whatever the process needs, it will be done. These issues come to the parliament and parliamentary committees discuss them. Hands are instantly raised and lowered in the General Assembly,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said about the legislative immunities after the group meeting last week. Replying to questions, parliamentary speaker Mustafa Sentop said that the Joint Committee will make a decision after examining the contents of the files and that there are lots of legislative immunity files, which is sad for the parliament.

There are over 1,300 summaries of proceedings submitted to the Parliament for the lifting of the legislative immunities in the parliament’s 27th term. 914 of them have been prepared against HDP deputies. HDP deputy Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu will be dismissed from his post with the reading of the finalized judgment about him in the General Assembly.

REFORM PACKAGE TO BE ANNOUNCED

Studies on economic and judicial reforms announced in November by President Erdogan have come to an end. President Erdogan will announce the Human Rights Action Plan prepared by the Ministry of Justice on March 2. The Human Rights Action Plan consists of 9 objectives, 49 goals and 374 activities, which also includes regulations on issues such as strengthening the right to a fair trial, ensuring the right to privacy and more muscular protections of property rights. The economic reform package will be announced in the second week of March.