NEW Party Chairman Özgür Özel answered the questions of Ekonomim newspaper.
"WE SUBMIT IT TO ALL PARTIES FOR REVIEW"
Regarding the bill submitted by his party to the Parliament regarding the funding crisis, Özel said, "We have submitted to the Parliament a 15-article bill signed by Mr. Ümit Özlale, on which 11 economist friends have been working for four days. We are presenting it to the review of all parties. We will discuss this bill with other parties. At the point of its adoption, we will suggest that it be discussed as the first law to be passed after the Parliament opens on October 1. Our proposal can be brought to the agenda immediately and become law."
Özel said the following when asked about his findings regarding the economy and solution suggestions from the field:
"In November 2023, when we took office in our previous party, we said that we would not talk about citizens' problems at the table, but would always be on the field. We also held intense rallies in Istanbul after the March 19 coup. These were reaction rallies and the economy was not prominent. When we moved to Anatolia, the share of the economy increased to 80 percent. We said to our friends, 'You will go to the provinces and districts.
We said, 'You will come together with tradesmen, SMEs, large-scale enterprises, OIZ managements, chambers of tradesmen, chambers of industry and commerce, and commodity exchanges, collect sectoral and province-specific problems and forward their solution suggestions to us.' In addition, 11 of our economist friends, whom we now describe as the Economic Coordination Council, paid visits to Türkiye, almost all of whom are well known and followed by the public.
We visited Bursa, Kocaeli, Gebze, Tekirdağ, Çorlu, Kayseri and Kars. There I listen to both the problems and their solution expectations. I am giving information about our party program. We get very important feedback from there. "Our friends answer the questions according to their areas of expertise."
"MINIMUM WAGE IS LOW FOR THOSE WHO TAKE, HIGH FOR THOSE WHO GIVE"
"Two major dilemmas stand out directly. One of them is the minimum wage issue. Especially in areas such as textile, leather, home textile, the minimum wage is too low for the buyer and too high for the giver. Because when the country it is compared to outside is Egypt or African countries, it reaches a different point in dollar terms. The second is the exchange rate. This is normally high for us, but unbearably low for the exporter. Let alone making a profit, it prevents them from turning around. When they cannot make money, investment is postponed.
When investment is postponed, technology declines or the needed growth capacity increase cannot be achieved or capacity cannot be maintained. This time, it faces market loss abroad. This hits employment and turns into unemployment. These two great dilemmas are common problems everywhere. First of all, they abolished the State Planning Organization (DPT), first in name. They responded to the criticism by saying, 'It will continue within the Ministry of Development.' Then, that function was also lost. "The problem of the personnel currently sought in Türkiye is entirely a planning problem."
REGIONAL MINIMUM WAGE
Özel gave the following answer to the question "Do you think the regional minimum wage is correct?":
"Of course, the drawbacks of the sectoral or regional minimum wage and the objections of the labor world to it are very important. But while protecting and looking after certain areas, it is necessary to take some measures to protect the sectors, such as covering the social security support premiums there by the state, providing social security supports and transferring the incoming premium collection to certain sectors as direct incentives.
We agree with the reserves in regional minimum wage discussions, but we need incentives to protect employment in the sectoral market. We formulated it by saying, 'We propose a minimum wage of 39 thousand lira for the buyer and 29 thousand lira for the giver.' We see that this has a great impact on SMEs in Anatolia. Because he says: 'I am ashamed of the minimum wage I pay. But my hand shakes when I give it.' They say, 'The minimum wage should increase, but the burden should be taken off our shoulders.'
If you look from sector to sector, product to product, for example, the kiwi producer in Yalova says, 'We will sell kiwi for 80-90 lira and make money. At that time, low-quality kiwi comes from Iran for 40 lira. You go to Kars, he says, 'The permission given to import meat has ruined us, prices have fallen.' Grape producers in Manisa are forced to sell grapes for a third of what they sold last year. He lowers the price for that day, which seems to reassure the consumer, but the producer complains. "The problem of not planning arises at the beginning of everything."
"THE WORK ON THE FIELD GOES BACK TO THE SAME PLACE..."
"We also hear complaints from time to time that loans are directed for political reasons and that there is favoritism in accessing loans, regarding what they always call selective loans, which is theoretically talked about as bringing loans to the right place in a good economic management. In these common problems, in addition to finance and business, high input costs, energy costs, collection processes weaken the investment appetite. Especially collection problems and the low exchange rate, that is, working at cost.
'In order not to lose my market, my workers, my factory, I have been spending my 30 years of savings for three years just to stay afloat. But this time I can't invest either. They say, "Technology is changing so fast, we have started to stay out of the game because we cannot invest in technology." This is an important aspect of the issue of deindustrialization. In other words, in the field, things keep coming back to the same place. "Not always making the right planning at the right time."
“WE WILL ESTABLISH THE TURKISH PLANNING INSTITUTION”
In response to the question "How do you plan to overcome the problems you mentioned? Will you start with planning?", Özel said:
"We will establish the Turkish Planning Institution, just like the DPT. Our first goal is to create a modern Turkish Planning Institution that can make analyzes that will take months and years very quickly, using high technology, with the spirit of the DPT, but in accordance with the requirements of the age, using high technology and the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Secondly, the public must take a role and take initiative in order to direct the right targets in both agriculture and investment. "In particular, Türkiye's textile issue needs to be approached from a different perspective."
“THERE IS A NEED FOR A CONCEPT OF JUSTICE THAT RISES ON FOUR PILLARS”
Özel gave the following answer to the question "How do you plan to create resource transformation in the economy and where do you plan to obtain the resources?":
"There is a very unfair tax system. It is not possible to talk about neither social welfare nor tax justice in a place where indirect taxes are at the level of 64 percent. There is a need for a concept of justice that will rise on four pillars. One of these is undoubtedly judicial justice. Of course, when we look at this from an economic perspective, legal predictability, legal assurance for everyone and foresight for those who will invest in the country.
After 47 years, the main opposition party became the first party in Türkiye and won the municipalities that will touch 84 percent of the economy. Operations started after that day. Finally, they changed that winning administration. They replaced it with absolute nullity. These are judicial decisions, but they are decisions that directly affect the economy. They take over people's companies to produce witnesses for politically motivated arrests. They say, 'If you confess, we will return your assets.'
Considering all of these, who will come to Türkiye, bring their money, convert it into Turkish currency, buy land for the factory, build a building, borrow money, find employees, invest in Türkiye? "It is important to rebuild a state of law that rises on four pillars, which will ensure social justice, ensure tax justice, and ensure fair income distribution, and which is perhaps the most indispensable carrier column in all of these."
"THE POLITICAL WILL MUST BE PEACEFUL FOR LOW INFLATION"
Özel said the following in response to the question "How will you reduce inflation?"
"Unfortunately, inflation has turned into the largest wealth transfer in the history of the world. The money in all of our pockets was transferred to the pockets of a certain group, and Turkey was introduced to high inflation in order to win an election. We have very well-trained staff who know how to fight against this high inflation. There are qualified staff in Türkiye to do the right things the world does when it comes to fighting inflation, and they are ready for duty.
But the political will must provide peace, pave the way, and provide comfort. While Mehmet Şimşek came and started to implement many aspects that could be criticized, but there were indications of achieving full results in terms of an anti-inflationist program for a certain period of time, the March 19 coup came and a world's worth of reserves were burned. Unfortunately, Mehmet Şimşek took over the financial aspect of the coup as the financier by saying 'These reserves were saved for these days'."
“IN OUR GOVERNMENT, WE WILL PROMISE DEMOCRACY, STABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT TO THE WORLD”
Özel answered the question, "Will you let inflation fall faster by abandoning political concerns?" with the following statements:
"Türkiye's CDS rose due to political choices and some mistakes they made to stay in power. At that time, risk premium came as a cost in borrowing not only for the state but for everyone. We are still paying the price for it together. Each of those costs has a pricing. The equivalent of that pricing is inflation. But when we come to power, first of all, the risks for which there is no legal predictability in Türkiye will disappear.
Political pressure on the judiciary will disappear. A government will come whose primary goal is full membership in the European Union. We will be promising the world democracy, stability, development and a reliable economy. The contribution this will bring will be huge. World markets, investors in the domestic market, all economic circles and financial circles will open a loan. "It is very important to use that credit correctly and not to waste it."
“THERE WOULD NOT BE A FUND CRISIS IN OUR GOVERNMENT”
Özel answered the question, "How would you manage the funding crisis if you were in power?" as follows:
"If we were in power, there would be no such fund crisis. The government had already been warned against manipulations in these markets and such malicious organizations for a certain period of time. While the warnings were very clear for a year, they left the regulations until August, and this was not a well-intentioned abandonment. Essentially, they saw that they could no longer play the game as before with these regulations. They left the fund they established, created, foamed and enlarged on the citizens' backs and ran away. Correct market regulations must be made in 2008. This happened in America and America took precautions against it. The fund in Türkiye grew 940 times during the closed period. These fund management companies are talked about as a legend.
Unfortunately, it is said that the victims of this issue are the voters close to the AK Party, from both sides of the issue. It is said that he is a voter who turns to other investment instruments instead of interest. We understand this too, and it is very sad. The voter was defrauded of the fund he turned to with such a feeling. This is the scam of the century. There are fund managers with names from politics. They defined a local and national ponzi area for themselves and darkened the future of the nation there by joking with themselves. We have to go back, as was done with Madoff. Who won in the closed period? Who won in the open period? Who put in what money and how much?
It is necessary to give everyone back the money they invested, collect the exorbitant profits they made there, put it in the fund and then distribute it to those who invested in the fund. This is how the Madoff crisis was resolved in America. Two things happened. First, victimization was minimized. Second, similar tragedies and disasters stopped happening. Because the investor there knows that he will not get away with it. On this issue, we submitted to the Parliament a 15-article bill signed by Mr. Ümit Özlale, on which 11 economist friends have been working for four days. We present it to all parties for review. We will discuss this bill with other parties. In terms of its adoption, we will propose that it be discussed as the first law to be passed after the Parliament opens on October 1. "Our proposal can be brought to the agenda immediately and enacted into law."
