January 1, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 27, 1423

ANKARA, Dec 31: Turkey’s president on Tuesday opened the way for the governing party’s banned leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to become prime minister.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had initially vetoed a set of constitutional amendments after parliament, approved them in mid-December, arguing they had been tailored to serve a single individual.

But lawmakers voted for the reform a second time and under the constitution Sezer had no option but to approve them or call a referendum.—AFP