A major hurdle has been overcome. The constitutional amendments that will usher Turkey into a new presidential system of administration has cleared the first round of debates with a comfortable majority, thus it is now a foregone conclusion that Parliament will approve the amendments in a second round of balloting and thus the scene will be set for a referendum in late March or early April.

Opinion polls show that more than 60 percent of the voters will approve the constitutional changes that introduce the presidential system. Thus the country will be run by the new system as of this summer.

The period between this summer and November 2019 will be a transition phase and after the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019, the system will function under the leadership of the new president who is expected to be Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

One would have preferred the new system to be the product of a complete new constitution drafted by civilians and yet this was impossible as the parties represented in Parliament could not agree on a common draft. So the amendments to the existing Constitution was the second best solution.

more:   http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/ilnur-cevik/2017/01/17/presidential-system-becoming-a-reality