The presidency and politics

First, it is necessary to remember this: The fact that presidential elections are a source of tension is not just about the upcoming elections. Since the foundation of the Republic, there has never been a presidential election without pain or tension. Neither the presidency of Mustafa Kemal himself nor the election of the "National Chief" immediately afterward could be passed without experiencing great tensions. The presidential election has always been a "hazard to be overcome" for the country. For more examples, one can look back at the election stories of Celal Bayar, Cemal Gürsel, Cevdet Sunay, Fahri Korutürk, Kenan Evren, Turgut Özal, Süleyman Demirel, and the current President who followed.

Based on the sum of these stories, we can make a generalization about the nature of presidential elections as a source of political tension. This tension is related to the nature of this institution and this election rather than individuals. During this process, all kinds of data that could be used against anyone intended to be sidelined in the election were used as leverage. Today, since Prime Minister Erdoğan's political background or the issue of his wife's headscarf gives those who are hopelessly and inadequately ambitious in this debate an invaluable trump card due to the prevailing view on secularism and the headscarf, it cannot be expected that this will not be used to the fullest. There is no doubt whatsoever that counter-arguments will emerge about whoever replaces Erdoğan as the closest candidate. The statistical picture of presidential elections says it has always been like this so far.

Other elections in Turkey do not generate this much tension at all, or the generated tensions can find their channel within the natural flow of the democratic process. Presidential elections, on the other hand, serve as a source of conflicts that bring a host of non-democratic elements into play. The reason for this is nothing other than the fact that although the post is elected by the ultimate decision-maker of the political process, it possesses a non-political, unlimited, and irresponsible authority with all its decisions. In other words, under the simplest evaluation, the person who happens to be elected to this post hits a huge lottery. It is by no means fair that even if he does no positive work for the benefit of the country for seven years, there is no political cost for this.

The rule of non-politicization, formulated under the principle of the President's neutrality, allows the person occupying the post to act like an absolute judge over politics. Moreover, this neutrality is a big lie that everyone actually knows but pretends to believe. Not only the current president, but in fact no president in history has managed to be neutral. Frankly, they cannot. Because the current president arrived at his position perhaps via the most shortcut non-political route, he does not even try to resort to any rhetoric to hide his partisanship, which actually helps this reality become a bit more visible. In my opinion, Sezer is a good example that could serve as an occasion to reflect more deeply on the function of the presidential office in a democracy. (Thus you see, he is not an entirely negative example either; a positive sentence can be formed for him as well if desired).

The office of the presidency is of course not obtained very easily, but it is often acquired by trying non-political routes, and once acquired, it provides an extremely high return requiring no political price. This is why the fight waged over it easily resorts to non-political paths, and why those who aspire to it each time risk major operations, intrigues, and dirty alliances.

Precisely for this reason, there is no choice but to politicize this office—that is, to turn it into an office that can be held accountable, gives account, and whose attainment depends entirely on a political process. The non-political ways of reaching this office must be carefully closed. But for this, it is not enough for those who have reached that office by climbing all stages of politics to arrive; at the same time, that office must be kept open to political supervision.

It is necessary to bring the presidency down from being a semi-divine office to earth, turning it into a democratic office representing the public in all its humanity. Unless this is done, the presidency—with its elections, its office, and its actions—will continue to be the most important obstacle to democratization in Turkey.