Ozal’s future on the line in Turkey's referendum

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 8

Ozal’s future on the line in Turkey's referendum

NZPA-Reuter Ankara A referendum in Turkey today has become a national vote of confidence in the Prime Minister, Turgut Ozal, who has taken the credit for radical modernisation and foreign faith in Turkey this decade. "If you do not give me enough support and strength, then I will leave and become a simple citizen,” a tired-looking Mr Ozal.said in a final call for votes. Polls suggest the 60-year-old conservative will be lucky to get the more than 35 per cent “yes” vote that political commentators say Mr Ozal must win to show continued popular support.

Even in a new cafe-bar in Ankara’s richest shopping street, few customers said they would vote for Mr Ozal in the referendum on whether the constitution should be changed to allow local elections to be held early.

“He’s done a lot of good but things have gone bad now. We need a change,” said Jale Erineri, an unemployed graduate. Most say they will vote “no” because of inflation now at 78 per cent, triggered by Budget overruns and a headlong rush for growth since Mr Ozal came to power in 1983. “The people who

receive water from new pipes don’t thank you and those who don’t have it complain,” said one top official, who said he would pack his bags if Mr Ozal resigned.

“The issue is how to achieve a structurral adjustment in a democratic environment,” he said, referring to an economy still ranging from donkeys arid carts to sophisticated banks. The respected Left-wing “Cumhuriyet” newspaper stressed what it called Mr Ozal’s failure to promote better human rights as it urged its readers to vote “no.” Mr Ozal listed familiar promises in his last address, promising to end inflation, to build more roads, sewers, parks, hospitals and schools and an end to air and sea pollution. “Turkey will become European in the full meaning of the word,” Mr Ozal said, referring to Turkey’s 1987 application for full membership of

the European Community. The referendum is technically about allowing local elections to be held a year early. In the run-up to the vote, Opposition leaders have criss-crossed the country of 55 million people in an effort to force Mr Ozal from office. Mr Ozal has scored some public relations successes, forcing the Opposition to campaign for “no” ballots that will be brown, keeping the more fashionable white colour for “yes.” He started his campaign in a white sailor suit, while the Opposition has had to settle for drab brown outfits, releasing brown doves at campaign stops. President Kenan Evren, a former general who led a coup in 1980, has kept above the fray. Once he appeared in brown trousers, a white blazer and a brown-and-white striped shirt.