Turkey: New system would replace PM with vice-presidents

ANKARA, Turkey – A senior official says Turkey would no longer have a prime minister under constitutional reforms the government is seeking to usher in a presidential system.

Forestry and Water Works Minister Veysel Eroglu told the state-run Anadolu Agency Thursday that one or more vice-presidents would assist the president under the proposed system.

Eroglu says ‘Turkey’s legislative and executive branches would remain separate.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought a presidential system that would give the country’s largely ceremonial presidency executive powers.

Until recently, opposition parties had opposed a presidential system, fearing it would allow Erdogan to rule unchecked.

The government is now engaged in talks with the country’s nationalist party, which has recently suggested it could support putting a presidential system to a referendum vote in the spring.