Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly is set to vote on a bill, which calls for a constitutional amendment to remove the lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution, for the second round on Friday.
The bill which was proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on April 12, had received enough votes in the first round of voting last Tuesday to move on to the second round.
348 deputies voted in favor and 155 deputies voted against the bill in the first round. The bill needed at least 330 votes in favor.
The constitutional amendment suggests to lift deputies’ immunity from prosecution, who currently face investigations and mainly targets politicians from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). If enacted the bill would affect a total of 138 lawmakers, 50 of them from HDP.
The second round of voting on Friday will determine if the bill can be enacted with or without holding a referendum. The bill needs to receive at least 367 votes in favor in the second round to pass into law without holding a referendum; a referendum can be requested by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if it receives less than 367.
