Debated issues
Amendment and civil society
For their part, constitutional theory experts, such as G. Papadimitriou, pointed out that without the participation of the civil society the proposed amendment could not be viable and effective. [3] Such a participation was going to strengthen the vigor of the political institutions through: [3]
- the boosting of the participatory democracy
- the protection of human rights and
- the renewal of the political system.
Private universities
In 2001 New Democracy proposed an amendment of the constitution, in order to allow private universities to operate in Greece on a non-profit basis. This proposal was rejected by then-ruling PASOK, and thus could not muster the support necessary to be put to vote on the constitutional amendment of 2001. However, PASOK has since changed its stance, and now also supports a constitutional provision for the creation of private Universities on a non-profit basis. On behalf of PASOK, Andreas Loverdos underscored his agreement with the operation of private universities, but he insisted that they do not trust the government and that their priority are public universities. [4]
This proposal continues however to encounter the fierce opposition of the Left parties, as well as a sizeable part of the academic community, both professors and students.
Former President Christos Sartzetakis agreed with the proposed modification of the constitutional provision, which does not allow the operation of "non-state owned" universities. He underscored however that the legislative framework must not allow the foundation of private theological schools. [5]
Religion
During the 2001 constitutional amendment, complete separation of church and state was proposed, but the two major parties, New Democracy and PASOK, decided not to open this controversial matter. Some still claim, however, that Greece had and continues to have a serious problem of religious freedom. [6] [7] In any case, none of the two main parties has expressed any intention to amend the Article 3 of the Constitution. K. Karamanlis insisted that his party has not modified its position expressed in 2001. [1]
Former Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis predicated that the separation of church and state is not necessary. He also argued that the problem with the criminal laws concerning proselytism could be resolved without any amendment of Article 13. [8]
Ch. Sartzetakis asserted that Article 3 of the Constitution should be amended, [9] so that all the ecclesiastical provinces of Greece come under the authority of the Church of Greece, in contrast to the current situation, where the lands gained after 1912 lie de jure under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople per the Patriarchical Volume of 1850 and the Synodical Act of 1928. According to Sartzetakis, this would be the only way to achieve ecclesiastical unity. [10]
Election of the President
Papandreou proposed the direct election of the President by the people, albeit only in the cases the necessary majority in the Hellenic Parliament could not be achieved, emphasizing that a potential political deadlock could thus be avoided. [2] K. Karamanlis rejected this proposal and asserted that the present constitutional provisions needed no modification, [1] although in 2001 he had also supported the direct election of the President. [11]
Konstantinos Mitsotakis stayed firm in his traditional position for the direct election of the President by the people. [8] Thereby, he disagreed with ND's current official stance as expressed by its leader. Supporters of Mitsotakis' and Papandreou's proposal, such as Giannis Pretenderis, argue that as the people directly elect their mayor or prefect, they should also in the same way elect the Head of State, whose constitutional role is much more important. [12] On the other hand, Christos Sartzetakis argued that the direct election of the President was not allowed by Article 110 of the Constitution. [5]
Justice
The heads of the supreme courts are appointed by the Cabinet of Greece for a 4-year term. Ch. Sartzetakis disagrees with these procedure and proposed that the heads of the supreme courts should be chosen by lot among the vice-presidents of each supreme court. He also expressed opposition to the 4-year term, as well as with Karamanlis' proposal for the creation of a Constitutional Court. [5] The foundation of this court was dynamically supported by Georgios Souflias.
Greece is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President of Greece is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government within a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Hellenic Parliament. Between the restoration of democracy in 1974 and the Greek government-debt crisis, the party system was dominated by the liberal-conservative New Democracy and the social-democratic PASOK. Since 2012, the anti-austerity, democratic socialist party Syriza has taken the place of PASOK as the largest left wing party, with their first election victory in January 2015.
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, they can be appended to the constitution as supplemental additions, thus changing the frame of government without altering the existing text of the document.
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, known mostly by its acronym PASOK, is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was one of the two major parties in the country, along with New Democracy, its main political rival. In greek legislative elections 2023 became again on of the three political powers
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 7 March 2004. The New Democracy Party of Kostas Karamanlis won the elections, ending eleven years of rule by PASOK. PASOK was led into the elections by George Papandreou, who succeeded retiring Prime Minister Costas Simitis as party leader in February.
Konstantinos A. Karamanlis, commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis, is a Greek retired politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. He was also president of the centre-right New Democracy party, founded by his uncle Konstantinos Karamanlis, from 1997 to 2009, and as member of the Hellenic Parliament from 1989 to 2023.
New Democracy is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Greece. In contemporary Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties along with its historic rival, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). New Democracy and PASOK were created in the wake of the toppling of the military junta in 1974, and ruled Greece alternately for the next four decades. Following the electoral decline of PASOK, New Democracy remained one of the two major parties in Greece, the other being the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the same year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European People's Party, the largest European political party since 1999, the Centrist Democrat International, and the International Democrat Union.
Konstantinos Mitsotakis was a Greek politician who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His son, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected as the Prime Minister of Greece following the 2019 Greek legislative election.
Tzannis Tzannetakis was a Greek politician who was briefly Prime Minister of Greece during the political crisis of 1989. He also served as a submarine commander in the Hellenic Navy.
An entrenched clause or entrenchment clause of a constitution is a provision that makes certain amendments either more difficult or impossible to pass. Overriding an entrenched clause may require a supermajority, a referendum, or the consent of the minority party. The term eternity clause is used in a similar manner in the constitutions of Brazil, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Morocco, Norway, and Turkey, but specifically applies to an entrenched clause that can never be overridden. However, if a constitution provides for a mechanism of its own abolition or replacement, like the German Basic Law does in Article 146, this by necessity provides a "back door" for getting rid of the "eternity clause", too.
Christos Sartzetakis was a Greek jurist and a supreme justice of the Court of Cassation, who served as the president of Greece from 1985 to 1990.
Ioannis Alevras, sometimes spelled Yannis Alevras, was a Greek Panhellenic Socialist Movement politician and Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, who served as acting President of Greece in March 1985.
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 17 November 1974. They were the first after the end of the military junta of 1967–1974, and took place during the metapolitefsi era. The winner was Konstantinos Karamanlis and his newly formed conservative party, New Democracy. Karamanlis had already formed a government of national unity just after the fall of the dictatorship. The second-largest party was the centrist Center Union – New Forces. The third party in the Parliament became the newly-formed PASOK, a radical socialist party led by Andreas Papandreou, son of the former Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou.
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 18 October 1981. PASOK, led by Andreas Papandreou, faced New Democracy, led by Georgios Rallis. Papandreou achieved a landslide and PASOK formed the first socialist government in the history of Greece.
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 3 November 1963. They resulted in a narrow victory for the Center Union of Georgios Papandreou after three consecutive victories of Konstantinos Karamanlis and his National Radical Union and after 11 years, during which the conservative parties ruled Greece.
The Amendment of 2001 constituted the most important amendment of the Constitution of 1975. The Amendment of 1986 was much more limited, as it led to the modification of just a few articles concerning the President's powers.
The Third Hellenic Republic is the period in modern Greek history that stretches from 1974, with the fall of the Greek military junta and the final confirmation of the abolishment of the Greek monarchy, to the present day.
The Greek Constitutional amendment of 1986 was proposed in order to limit the powers of the President of the Republic. Although the president had been vested with considerable powers under the 1975 Constitution, in practice Greek presidents largely took a ceremonial role. Nevertheless, by virtue of their mere existence they influenced the development of political affairs during the first co-existence of Constantine Karamanlis as President of the Republic with the government of PASOK from 1980 to 1986. The responsibilities of the President of the Republic were the target of the revisionary proceedings of 1985-1986.
Early parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 4 October 2009. Elections were not required until September 2011, but on 2 September 2009 Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis of New Democracy announced that he would request President Karolos Papoulias dissolve Parliament and call elections. Parliament was dissolved on 9 September.
Agamemnon Koutsogiorgas, commonly known as Menios Koutsogiorgas, was a Greek lawyer, police officer and politician. As a close associate of Andreas Papandreou, the founder and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Koutsogiorgas emerged as one of the most powerful cabinet member during PASOK's 1981–1989 government, and was widely regarded as Papandreou's heir apparent. Embroiled in the George Koskotas scandal however, he was brought before a Special Tribunal. During the procedure he collapsed in the court room on 11 April 1991 and died a week later.
