Legal security most important title under new Human Rights Action Plan: Minister

ANKARA

The most important item of the new Human Rights Action Plan is the fact that it introduces measures for legal security, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül has said, informing that all the necessary works for the full implementation of the plan will be accomplished in two years.

“The country will be much more confident for the future if it has both legal and economic security,” Gül told the state-run Anadolu Agency in an interview on March 3, while explaining the details of the Human Rights Action Plan which was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 2.

“Legal security is the most fundamental aspect. If you ask me which the most important title of the Action Plan is, I’d say it’s ‘legal security.’ People’s freedoms, securities, economic investments and jobs are all under guarantee if you have legal security,” he said.

The plan is a product of more than one-and-a-half-year work and consultations of all the stakeholders, including the European Union and the Council of Europe, and therefore is designed to address the needs of 83 million people, the minister said, stressing it will not only upgrade democratic standards, but will also better the climate for the investments.

“If there is a democratic deficiency in a country, it means this country has also budgetary deficiencies. Wealth increases if there is democracy and freedoms improve,” he stated, drawing the attention to the link between democratic and economic predictability. “Where will the investors go? To countries where there is legal security.”

On questions about criticisms concerning the content of the action plan, Gül said they will try to benefit from all the constructive criticisms after a meticulous study of all the opposing views about the government’s road map.

2023 objectives include new constitution

The next target of the government is to accelerate the works to reach the objectives set for the centennial of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 2023, Gül said, stressing that a new constitution will surely be the most important tool to this end.

“We are hoping for an inclusive process for the new constitution through negotiations,” he said, underlining that the country needs a civilian and democratic blueprint penned by all the democratic stakeholders of the country.

Election threshold ‘meaningless’

On a question about the government’s works to amend the Election Law and Law of the Political Parties, Gül said the consultations are still underway.

One of the important discussions is whether the drafted bill will reduce the current 10 percent national election threshold. “My humble opinion is that the election threshold is meaningless,” he said.

There are reports that the government is mulling decreasing it to 7 percent.