In Turkey, Parliament has approved key Articles of a constitutional reform which would allow the President to be a member of a political party and issue decrees. The three approved articles set out Parliament's supervisory role, enables President to retain ties with a political party and detail the President's executive powers as head of state, including the power to issue decrees.<br/><br/>The ruling AK Party, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through the legislation. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says, the legislation will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return of the fragile coalition governments of the past. The main opposition CHP and the second largest opposition party pro-Kurdish HDP fear these changes will fuel authoritarianism.<br/><br/>The plans envisage Presidential and general elections being held in 2019. The changes will need to pass in two more rounds of voting before the constitutional package as a whole is put to a referendum.