The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe - European Commission for Democracy through Law - adopted a legal opinion, on 18 June 2020, on the replacement of elected candidates and mayors in Turkey. The adoption of this opinion responds to a request sent by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the end of 2019, concerning several decisions made by the Turkish State authorities after the 31 March local elections. The request followed the Congress election observation report which had identified serious concerns regarding the situation of local elected representatives.
Congress spokespersons on local and regional elections Jos Wienen (Netherlands, PPE/CCE) and Stewart Dickson (United Kingdom, ILDG) expressed strong support for this legal opinion. “We appreciate the explicit nature of the conclusions which point out, in particular, that the decision of the Supreme Election Council of Turkey to deny the winning candidates their rightful mandates was inconsistent with international standards, and that the decisions of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior to suspend the elected mayors undermine the very nature of local self-government,” they stated.
They stressed that the continued suspensions of elected local officials without court decisions and their replacements by Government’s appointees were inconsistent with the basic principles of democracy and in contradiction to international law standards, including the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified by Turkey in 1992.
“We fully subscribe to the recommendations of the Venice Commission requiring, among other things, that the decisions made by Turkish authorities on denial of mandates and suspensions of local candidates and mayors be reversed and respective legal provisions be repealed, respectively,” Jos Wienen and Stewart Dickson concluded.
See also:
- Press release : Venice Commission calls on government to repeal decisions that have undermined democratic self-government in South-East Turkey
- File : Observation of the local elections in Turkey - 2019
The European Commission for Democracy through Law - the Venice Commission as it meets in Venice - is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters. The role of the Venice Commission is to provide legal advice to its member states. It works in three areas: democratic institutions and fundamental rights ; constitutional justice and ordinary justice - elections, referendums and political parties. Congress spokespersons for local and regional elections are its representatives in the Venice Commission’s Council for Democratic Elections.
