The Greek Parliament conducted a series of votes on Thursday for the final decision on which of the forty-three articles of the Constitution that were selected for possible revision will be actually revised by the next parliamentary session.
The point of controversy between SYRIZA and the main opposition New Democracy Party was the interpretation of Article 110, and the responsibilities of the Parliament which will be formed after the upcoming general elections.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the leader of the opposition Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a heated debate before the vote.
Mitsotakis remarked that ”I am sorry that this debate, which is the most important parliamentary procedure, is taking place before empty seats.”
Tsipras responded, saying that “there is no precedent of a Constitutional revision process where we have discussed so many times and I consider the accusation that the process was conducted ‘on the hoof,’ and in a rushed way, to be unfair.”
Mitsotakis accused SYRIZA, saying that ”the revision is left in limbo and it is confirmed that SYRIZA treated even the country’s Constitution as a political tool for creating a cheap diversion.”
According to the results of the vote, all forty-three articles will be up for revision by the next Parliament. Most of them will need at least 180 votes to be revised.
One of the most important issues of this vote concerned the article which describes the way the President of the Republic is elected.
With 224 MPs voting in favor of its revision on Thursday, the next Government will be able to revise it with a simple majority of 151 votes.
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