Mustafa Baytas, the Minister Delegate for Relations with Parliament and Government Spokesperson, revealed that the autumn session of Parliament was marked by the approval of a package of laws covering various reform initiatives. He emphasized the government’s notable improvement in its interaction with the legislative institution, reflected in both written and oral questions.
During the press conference following the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Baytas noted that Parliament concluded the October session last Tuesday, at both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. He indicated that this occasion served as an opportunity to showcase the parliamentary work’s performance, in terms of approved legal texts as well as the activation of oversight mechanisms to monitor government actions.
On the legislative front, the government official mentioned the final approval of approximately 19 laws, highlighting that the October session had a unique character due to the dominance of the draft finance law in much of the parliamentary work within committees and general sessions.
He added that the contents of the approved laws encompassed various major reform initiatives, addressing the economic and financial sector with several fundamental texts, along with the political and electoral sector, through the approval of three laws pertaining to the House of Representatives, political parties, and electoral lists.
This session also included laws with judicial implications, along with others related to social protection efforts as part of completing this strategic project. Additionally, there were laws concerning rights and freedoms, such as the law concerning the National Agency for Childhood Protection and the Civil Status law.
Baytas also noted the approval of laws related to reforming the school education and higher education systems, as well as texts concerning social affairs, particularly those concerning judicial staff and the justice sector.
On the oversight front, the government spokesperson confirmed that the activation of oversight mechanisms, especially written and oral questions, has seen a continuous increase since the first year of the current government.
In this context, Baytas provided comparative numerical data between legislative terms, explaining that 25,147 written questions were raised in the ninth legislative term, with responses provided for 16,793 questions, representing a response rate of 66.78 percent. In the tenth legislative term, 25,727 questions were raised, with a lower response rate of 56.1 percent.
In the current legislative term, the number of written questions posed reached 36,590, representing an increase of nearly 11,000 questions, while the government answered 24,395 questions, achieving a response rate near 68 percent, close to the overall target rate set at around 70 percent.
Regarding oral questions, Baytas explained that the number rose from 14,427 in the ninth legislative term to 20,296 in the tenth, eventually reaching 26,761 in the current term. The number of government answers also increased from 3,609 in the ninth term and 3,598 in the tenth to 6,062 in the current term, according to the timeline established by the House of Representatives.
Baytas affirmed that these indicators reflect an increasing dynamism in oversight work and greater government interaction with constitutional mechanisms. However, he pointed out that several issues, particularly related to the work of parliamentary committees, remain under discussion within the legislative body.
