TURKEY:Turkey's ruling AK Party yesterday proposed amending a text on constitutional reform for a referendum this month to avert legal challenges to the status of Turkish president Abdullah Gul.
Turkish voters are expected to endorse the constitutional amendments on October 21st that propose the people, not parliament, elect the president.
Mr Gul was elected by parliament in August for a seven-year term. If, as widely expected, voters back the reforms in the referendum, some legal experts said he would have to resign and run again for the post in a popular vote.
An AK Party official said the party would scrap an article in the referendum text that stipulates Turkey's 11th president must be elected by voters. Mr Gul is Turkey's 11th head of state. All future presidents after Mr Gul will be elected by popular vote.
The AK Party formally submitted its proposal to parliament after consultations with opposition parties. It shrugged off a call from the main opposition Republican People's Party to cancel the referendum. Parliament is expected to approve the revised text in good time before the referendum, AK Party officials said.
The issue has threatened fresh political upheaval in Turkey.
Prime minister Tayyip Erdogan's government initially proposed the reforms after Turkey's secular elite, including army generals and judges, blocked parliament's first attempt to elect Mr Gul as president in May.
Mr Erdogan called a snap election in July which the AK Party won decisively, allowing the assembly to elect Mr Gul.