The Speaker of Parliament announced the establishment of the Parliamentary Committee for the Revision of the Constitution. The government majority has decided that the committee should complete its work within two months, during the summer, so that the remaining parliamentary procedures can be pushed through immediately afterwards.
According to the proposal submitted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the New Democracy government is seeking a series of interventions in the Constitution. Among the most significant proposed changes are the establishment of non-state universities through the revision of Article 16; linking the permanent status of civil servants to their evaluation; the constitutional entrenchment of the fiscal ‘cutter’, presented as protection from the ‘threat of bankruptcy’; changes to the article on ministerial responsibility; the further strengthening of judicial independence; the recognition of affordable housing as a state obligation; stronger provisions on the climate crisis; and a framework of principles for artificial intelligence for the benefit of people and society.
In a Facebook post, the prime minister argued that ‘the changes we are proposing may seem bold to some. However, I believe they are necessary for a country that wants to look to the future with confidence.’ He added that the proposals are not being made ‘with a view to the next election, but to the next decade.’
Opposition parties accuse the majority of using the Constitution to ‘serve party-political plans and electoral expediencies’ and have made clear that they will not consent.
The Constitutional Revision Committee will consist of 42 members, with a cross-party presidency. The majority has proposed Makis Voridis as chair and Euripides Stylianidis as rapporteur. The committee’s work will be completed within two months. Two months from today, the first vote on the articles to be revised will be held, followed by a second vote one month later.
Specifically, the Constitutional Revision Committee will include:
From the New Democracy parliamentary group:
Charalambos Athanasiou
George Vlachos
Mavroudis (Makis) Voridis
Dimitris Kairidis
Panayis Kappatos
Theodoros Karaoglou
Ioannis Kefalogiannis
Eleftherios Ktistakis
Efstathios Konstantinidis
George Kotsos
Zoe (Zetta) Makri
Anna Mani-Papadimitriou
Panagiotis (Notis) Mitarakis
Theodora (Dora) Bakoyannis
Andreas Nikolakopoulos
Ioannis (Yannis) Economou
Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos
Zoe Rapti
Theodoros Roussopoulos
Theodoros Skylakakis
Euripides Stylianidis
Evangelos (Angelos) Syrigos
Maximos Harakopoulos
From the PASOK parliamentary group:
Konstantina (Nadia) Giannakopoulou
Panagiotis Doudonis
Evangelia Liakouli
Dimitrios Mantzos
Georgios Nikitiadis
From the SYRIZA parliamentary group:
George Gavrilos
Theofilos Xanthopoulos
George Papailiou
George Psychogios
From the Greek Communist Party (KKE):
Ioannis Giokas
Ioannis Delis
Maria Komninaka
From the far-right Greek Solution parliamentary group:
Stylianos Fotopoulos
Konstantinos Chitas
From the Democratic Patriotic Popular Movement (NIKI) parliamentary group:
Georgios Rountas
From the Course of Freedom parliamentary group:
Zoe Konstantopoulou
From the independent MPs:
Athanasios (Nassos) Iliopoulos
Eleni Karageorgopoulou
Theodora Tzakri
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