Greek Parliament: Battle for vote of no confidence in government is over

Discussion of a vote of no confidence in the government began on Wednesday and ended in the second half of Friday, January 27, with a vote by MPs. With 156 against and 143 in favour, SYRIZA’s vote of no confidence in the Mitsotakis government was defeated.

Debate proceedings began today in parliament on the impeachment petition filed by Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday afternoon. The situation in the Greek parliament is quite tense, and during the speeches of political leaders, the political thermometer fell to the red mark.

Speech by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the vote of no confidence debate

The procedure began shortly before 09:30 am with the rest of the deputies, and then speeches by political leaders began. Once the speeches are over, which is expected to happen in the afternoon, the voting process will begin.

Referring to the day of the no-confidence vote, Mr Mitsotakis noted that “January 25 is the date Mr Tsipras first became prime minister and the sad adventure of a country with closed banks and wide open borders began.” He also said that a meeting of the Turkish Security Council would be held on the same day, adding that the Turkish media covered the reports of the official opposition leader.

Mr. Mitsotakis accused Mr. Tsipras of not mentioning “Mr. Kalogritsa’s bag,” adding that “you won’t be hiding for long because of it.” Referring to Mr. Tsipras’ statement that “there are judges in Athens,” he said that “there are indeed courts and they are trying two of your ministers,” while recalling that the Mati fire trial is ongoing.

Speech in parliament during the debate on the vote of no confidence in the government

M. Katrinis (head of PASOK – Movement for Change) (Vote of no confidence in the government)

KKE leader Kutsoumbas: ND and SYRIZA did everything possible to bury the KKE wiretapping case

What the constitution says about a vote of no confidence

The procedure for issuing a vote of no confidence in the government is detailed in Article 84 of the Greek Constitution. According to what she mentions, parliament can, by its decision, withdraw no confidence in the government or one of its members. A vote of no confidence can only be introduced six months after Parliament has rejected the vote of no confidence.

The vote of no confidence must be signed by at least 1/6 of the deputies and clearly include the issues to be debated. As an exception, a vote of no confidence may be introduced before the expiration of the six-month period, if it is signed by a majority of the total number of deputies.

Discussion of a vote of confidence or no confidence begins two days after the relevant proposal is made, unless the government requires the immediate start of discussion, which cannot be extended for more than three days from its beginning. A vote of confidence or no confidence takes place immediately after the end of the debate, but may be delayed for 48 hours at the request of the government.

A vote of no confidence is accepted only if it is approved by an absolute majority of votes from the total number of deputies.

When voting for the above proposals, the ministers and deputy ministers who are members of the parliament vote.

The Rules of Procedure of the Parliament (Article 142) states that the debate at the plenary session ends no later than midnight on the third day from its beginning by roll call. According to the same article of the Parliament’s rules of procedure, the discussion of a vote of no confidence begins with the speech of at least two deputies from among the signatories. At the same time, before the end of their speech, a complete list of speakers who will speak before the plenary session is compiled.

For a vote of no confidence in the government as a whole or a member to be passed, it must be approved by an absolute majority of the total number of deputies. (151 deputies). Since the opposition does not have such a large number of votes, this procedure will be just an additional opportunity for politicians to make accusations against opponents and boast of their achievements and victories.

As it became known after the writing of the material, the vote turned out to be quite expected: With 156 against and 143 in favor, the vote of no confidence filed by SYRIZA in the Mitsotakis government was rejected.

A total of 299 deputies voted.

The vote of no confidence debate lasted 34 hours, one of the longest periods of discussion ever held on a related motion of no confidence, according to the Speaker of the House.

In addition to party leaders and the prime minister, 126 deputies spoke, six representatives of parliament, 22 ministers, deputy ministers, former prime minister (Georgos Papandreou), former secretary of the Communist Party (Alekka Papariga), former speaker of parliament (Nikos Voutsis), deputy prime minister Minister Panagiotis Pikramenos – a total of 164 speakers.

Source link