TRT will be evaded from inspection: Exemption from tender law for companies

With the transition to the Presidential Government System, changes were made to the laws and decrees in order to comply with the changes made to the Constitution. In this context, many decrees were issued. The Constitutional Court annulled many regulations on the grounds that they included matters that could not be regulated by the decrees.

Following the Constitutional Court's annulment decisions, the omnibus bill practice, which has become commonplace in AKP governments, was put into effect. Many controversial regulations were passed by the Parliament with omnibus bills that were brought to the TBMM one after another.

WITH AKP AND MHP VOTES

A new one was added to the omnibus proposals that the AKP resubmitted to the Parliament on April 25, which included regulations that the Constitutional Court had cancelled because they were regulated by statutory decrees. The Bill of Law on Amending Certain Laws and Statutory Decree No. 375, which the AKP submitted to the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 25, was discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Planning and Budget Commission on May 7. Despite all the opposition's objections, the articles of the law were accepted by the votes of the AKP and MHP members of the commission. It was learned that the proposal will be brought before the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on May 12.

FREEDOM TO TRT

The bill passed by the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee paved the way for the highest civil servant salary to be paid to the TRT General Manager. The most striking article in the bill was the article that allowed TRT to establish a company and to partner with the private sector. On the other hand, the article also foresaw that all kinds of purchases, sales, services, consultancy and construction works of the companies that TRT would establish and that it was a partner of would be exempt from the Public Procurement Law . The additional indicators of TRT personnel would be determined by the Presidency and personnel subject to private law provisions would be employed in the institution.

PRIVILEGED STAFF

KESK Representative Şaziment Banu Savaş, who attended the commission meeting, criticized the proposal that foresees that TRT companies will not be subject to the provisions of the Public Procurement Law and the Public Procurement Contracts Law. Noting that the companies will be free from inspection and will be provided with a “structure where whatever is desired can be done,” Savaş said, “In addition, we believe that the assignment of institution personnel as Presidents or members in these companies, the lack of any limit on the salary to be given, and the regulation that these people will continue to receive their rights as TRT personnel will create some privileged personnel.”

SPENDING WITH CITIZENS' MONEY

Ahmet Vehbi Bakırlıoğlu, a member of the TBMM Planning and Budget Commission and CHP MP, said that 86 percent of TRT's expenses are financed by taxes deducted from citizens' expenses. Underlining that it is unacceptable for the companies that TRT will establish and become partners with to be exempt from the Public Procurement Legislation, Bakırlıoğlu continued his words as follows:

“TRT companies will be exempt from public procurement legislation and Court of Accounts auditing, and therefore from parliamentary auditing. Billions of liras will be spent, but they will not be able to hold either the Court of Accounts or the Parliament accountable. Of TRT’s 21 billion TL income in 2023, 18.2 billion TL will come from citizens’ taxes. When we ask how much the programs TRT outsources cost, both in the SEE commission and the planning budget commission, no information is provided, saying it is a ‘trade secret’. TRT World News UK Limited, which TRT established abroad, is also excluded from the Court of Accounts auditing.”