The Politics of Coercion in Greece
This is a transcript of Zoe Konstantopoulou’s important July 22nd speech in the Hellenic Parliament.
I confess that the consciously, politically and personally painful moments which we are being called on to experience in parliament during this parliamentary term are multiplying.
From my capacity as Speaker of the House, I have just sent a letter to the President, Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos and to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras noting that it is my institutional responsibility to emphasize and underline that the conditions this bill is being introduced under allow no guarantees of compliance with the constitution, no protection of the democratic process or the exercise of legislative power of parliament, nor a conscience vote by members of parliament, under conditions of blatant blackmail, which is aimed by foreign government of European Union member States at this government and the members of parliament and which is in fact introduced without any possibility of amendment by the parliament as was confessed by the Minister, whom I honor and respect deeply, as he knows, a statute through which a major intervention in the functioning of justice and the exercise of the fundamental rights of the citizens is being attempted, in a manner that tears down both the functioning of Greek democracy as a social state under the rule of law and in which there is a separation of powers according to the constitution, as well as the preservation of the principle of fair trial.
Ministers are being coerced to introduce a legislation whose content they do not agree with, and the statement made by the Justice Minister was characteristic, but who are directly opposed to it and members of parliament are being coerced to vote for it who are also opposed to its content, and the statements made by members of parliament in the two parliamentary groups, which make up the parliamentary majority were also characteristic, every one of them.
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