The Freedom Road Movement has filed a “Quo Warranto” petition with the “Supreme Court”, questioning the legality of Ziya Ozturkle’s “election” to the “parliamentary presidency.”
According to Turkish Cypriot media, Umut Ersoy, General Secretary of the movement, stated that there has been a crisis concerning the “election” of the “parliamentary president” for over a month. He described this crisis as being completely disconnected from the “people’s” issues. He explained that the “Quo Warranto” petition—originally an Anglo-Saxon legal remedy that questions the legality of occupying a public office or usurping power—marks a first in the “judicial” history of the occupied areas. “What matters most to us is to enable discussions about real problems facing the public and to generate solutions for them,” Ersoy added. He suggested that the situation in “parliament” could be resolved through a legal interpretation by the “Supreme Court.”
Freedom Road’s lawyer, Serkan Mesutoglu, clarified that the petition was filed not with the “Constitutional Court” but as a “Quo Warranto” appeal to the “Supreme Court.” This move, he stated, begins a judicial process to determine whether the appointment or “election” to public office was conducted lawfully. Should the “court” rule that the “election” of the “parliamentary president” breached the “law,” the Freedom Road Movement seeks for the position to be declared vacant.
Meanwhile, nine trade unions have criticised the coalition government of UBP-DP-CA for the crisis in “parliament,” issuing a joint statement arguing that “early elections are the only way out of this chaos.”
In their joint statement, signed by the trade unions HÜR-Ş, DEV-İŞ, KTAMS, KAMU-SEN, KTÖS, KTOEÖS, KOOP-SEN, EL-SEN, and BES, it was stated that while the “people” struggle against the monster of inflation, with rising prices raining down on them daily, their children confined to container classrooms, health scandals leading to infant deaths, and lives lost daily on the roads, “it is never acceptable to shut down parliament for the sake of a single position.”
Erhan Arikli, head of the Rebirth Party (CA) and “Minister of Transport,” held a press conference today urging the CTP to reach an agreement and resolve the ongoing crisis. He proposed, “After the presidential elections in October 2025, the CTP should determine a reasonable date, and the elections should proceed accordingly.” Arikli mentioned that he discussed this proposal with the DP, the other partner in the “government,” and received their agreement.
“Accept Ziya Ozturkle as parliamentary president, allow a formula to be found, and let us bring the UBP into the fold for early elections on a suitable date. Otherwise, this crisis will create serious problems for the country,” he stated.
Arikli also suggested that the CTP misinterprets the “parliamentary” regulations, whereas he believes that “Ozturkle’s election is not up for debate.”
Source: CNA
