Thursday, 6 April 2023
The Assembly will meet to debate the draft law on the amendment to the Public Procurement Bill, while unions are expected to protest outside the Assembly building, Yeniduzen reports.
The amendment, if passed by the Assembly, will enable the government to sign a 20-year agreement with private Turkish energy company AKSA to supply electricity. Unions have criticised the government for not putting the contract out to tender, saying that this is why electricity prices are so high.
The electrical workers’ union El-Sen, supported by the civil servants union KTAMS and by the physician’s union TIP-İŞ, say that if the draft amendment is approved it will put the country on the road to no return.
Unions will be in front of the Assembly building all day, noting that if the government refuses to meet El-Sen, all maintenance work to Teknecik generators will be suspended and no repairs will be made.
The Secretary-General of main opposition party CTP Asım Akansoy, told Yeniduzen that this is not just a problem for El-Sen, it is important that all organisations support each other.
“We, as the CTP, will continue to fulfil this responsibility. We do not have an easy responsibility, we are aware of that. Today we will be both in the parliament and on the street. This is not only a topic for El-Sen but the subject of the whole society“, he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the YDP, one of the minority coalition partners, Erhan Arıklı, told Yeniduzen that the government did not intend to back down on this issue. He added that under the Procurement Law, they had the authority to bargain with AKSA within the scope of the contract.
