The Turkish Constitution does not allow the president to be a partisan figure, stating that any of the president's ties to a political party are severed and their parliamentary status terminated upon election to the office.
Erdogan said that if implemented, the transition would help Turkey to "overcome structural blockage" in the state administration.
"Of course it would. This is the reason why I bring this up. I believe the blockage could be overcome this way."
"We need to eliminate double-headedness. Otherwise, irrespective of how much you like each other or whether you have a history of working together, problems may arise from time to time. But when you have a partisan presidency, it means you would have a different version of the French system," Erdoğan told reporters on Thursday.
The issue of a transition to a presidential system has again been touted by government officials following the ruling Justice and Development party’s landslide victory in November, despite strong objections from opposition parties who fear it would exacerbate the existing authoritarian tendencies by concentrating all administrative power in Erdogan's hands, the newspaper wrote in conclusion.
