Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed while delivering a speech at a pro-government think tank on Monday that Saudi Arabia, governed by a monarchy and ruled by the King, in fact resembles a presidential system.
In defense of a presidential system of government, Erdoğan also claimed that the UK is not a parliamentary democracy but rather a country that is run by an executive president where the queen interferes in the government.
He criticized the election system in the UK, saying it is broke and describing it as unjust.
In January, Erdoğan also uttered similar claims alleging that “nearly all developed countries” are governed by presidential systems.
He spoke at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), a think tank that is close to and financed by the government, asking the SETA academics to do research on the benefits of a presidential system.
Although Erdoğan claimed that the presidential system is the main issue in the election campaign and has strong backing from voters, almost all the polls suggest otherwise. Erdoğan failed to gain traction on his bid to become an executive president as most people list economic woes as their number one concern in the elections.
The president said he is also opposed to a bicameral system if Turkey decides to switch to an executive presidency, saying that a Senate may hamper the work of Parliament as the House of Representatives in the American system often clashes with the Senate.