Samaras Says Constitutional Revision Now Or After 2021

If the proposed constitutional revision does not go ahead at this time, then it will have to wait until after 2021, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned on Thursday in his address to the New Democracy party's committee. At the same time the Greek Premier urged the opposition to back his proposals.

     "Whoever attempts something of this sort will have a huge responsibility. Our proposal will result in a new Constitution within a maximum period of two and a half years. If the revision doesn't go ahead now, a new Constitution can only be introduced after 2021," Samaras said.
     "It's a pity to lose more years for things that should have been done a long time ago. The Greek people are watching and judging."

Samaras noted that the initiative for a series of revisions in the Greek Constitution will give rise to new avenues for Greece’s political life and that this is not an ordinary revision but a major undertaking.

Expanding further, he said that the proposals offer greater protection to the citizens’ rights to education, property and environment and that they rationalise the operation of the three powers, as well as the distinction between them.

He underlined that the revision limits the privileges of lawmakers by abolishing the rights that protected them from prosecution. Parallel to this it also reinstates the role of the President of the Republic as a coordinator of the system of government, enhances the role of Parliament and MPs, limits their privileges, consolidates the independence of Justice and provides for the establishment of a Constitutional Court.

Source: NERIT