ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday began campaigning for constitutional changes that would expand the powers of his office, hours after a vote in parliament cleared the way for a national referendum on the issue.
Speaking in Istanbul, he hailed the assembly's early-morning decision, saying a more powerful presidency will catapult Turkey to a position of strength. "God willing, the people will give the true decision, the final decision," Erdogan said.
After an all-night session capping almost two weeks of debate, Turkish lawmakers passed the contentious bill. The measure still needs to be approved in a national plebiscite scheduled for April. The bill would abolish the role of the prime minister and introduce a presidential system that critics fear lacks effective checks and balances.
The changes could allow Erdogan to remain in power until 2029.
The bill would grant the office of the presidency -- currently a largely ceremonial position -- the power to appoint government ministers and senior officials, dissolve parliament, declare states of emergency, issue decrees and appoint half of the members in the country's highest judicial body.
Disputes cast a pall over the two-round voting process, with one opposition legislator handcuffing herself to the rostrum to protest the package. Many legislators from the ruling Justice and Development Party voted in breach of the secret-ballot protocol by showing their "yes" votes -- a move the opposition said placed pressure on others to do the same.
Lawmakers of the pro-Kurdish and liberal People's Democratic Party argued that freedoms were being rolled back in the name of stability at a time when a divided nation needs more, not less, democracy.
"If this presidential system passes, the state of chaos, crisis, instability, clashes, polarization we've experienced in the past 1½ to 2 years will become institutionalized and made permanent," Hisar Ozsoy of the People's Democratic Party said in a motion to dismiss the bill. The party also demanded that its leaders and representatives jailed on "terrorism-related" charges be allowed to cast votes -- a request that was ignored.
"Taking into account rising terror attacks in Turkey by [the Islamic State militant group] and Kurdish militants, in a potential referendum, Erdogan's winning recipe will be to cast himself as the strong man, right-wing leader able to deliver security to the Turks through the office of his newly created executive-style presidency," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Information for this article was contributed by Cinar Kiper of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/22/2017