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Should the 10 and 5-year political bans brought by the temporary 4th article of the 1982 constitution be lifted? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Constitutional history of Turkey |
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Constitutional documents |
Constitutions |
Referendums |
Constitutional Court |
A constitutional referendum was held in Turkey on 6 September 1987 to amend temporary article 4 of the constitution, which had forbidden the leaders of banned parties (a total of 242 people) from taking part in politics for ten years. The governing Motherland Party (ANAP) agreed to the referendum after a compromise was struck with opposition parties regarding constitutional changes. ANAP campaigned for the "No" vote, while most opposition parties campaigned for the "Yes" vote. The changes were narrowly approved by 50.2% of voters, with a 93.6% turnout.
Temporary article 4 of the Turkish constitution was introduced following the 12 September 1980 coup d'état, which saw the outlawing of several political parties. The article forbade 242 people –the leaders of the banned political parties –from being involved in politics for ten years. The referendum was the result of negotiations between the governing Motherland Party (ANAP) and opposition parties. [1]
In the referendum, "Yes" voters used the color blue as their symbol, while "No" voters used orange. [2] The "Blue Color Yes" ( Turkish: Mavi Renkli Evet) campaign was led by four party leaders who had been restricted by temporary article 4, from the True Path Party, Democratic Left Party, Nationalist Task Party, and Welfare Party. [2] These parties supported the "Yes" campaign, as did the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), despite it not having had any leaders who were affected by temporary article 4. [1] [2] SHP leader Erdal İnönü organized countrywide rallies for the "Yes" campaign. [2]
Choice | Party | Leader | Political orientation | Ref |
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For | Social Democratic Populist Party | Erdal İnönü | Center-left | [2] |
Nationalist Task Party | Ali Koç | Far-right | [2] | |
True Path Party | Hüsamettin Cindoruk | Center-right | [2] | |
Democratic Left Party | Rahşan Ecevit | Center-left | [2] | |
Welfare Party | Ahmet Tekdal | Far-right | [2] | |
Against | Motherland Party | Turgut Özal | Center-right | [1] |
The referendum was narrowly approved by 50.2% of voters. Turnout was 93.6%, with 24,436,821 votes cast. [3]
Choice | Votes | % | |
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For | 11,711,461 | 50.16 | |
Against | 11,636,395 | 49.84 | |
Total | 23,347,856 | 100.00 | |
Valid votes | 23,347,856 | 95.54 | |
Invalid/blank votes | 1,088,965 | 4.46 | |
Total votes | 24,436,821 | 100.00 | |
Registered voters/turnout | 26,095,630 | 93.64 |