Parliament: amendment on postal voting in national elections not adopted

The first defeat of the Mitsotakis government was the attempt to introduce an amendment on postal voting in national elections, which almost the entire opposition voted against.

Voters at home and Greeks abroad will be able to take part in the next European elections via postal voting, as the Interior Ministry bill has been approved by a majority, but not for national elections.

158 ND MPs voted for the bill in principle, 135 MPs from SYRIZA, PASOK, KKE, Hellenic Solution, Spartans, Niki and Νέα Αριστερά voted against, and 6 MPs from the Πλεύσης Ελευθερίας party declared themselves “present”.

At the same time, however, the government’s attempt to extend absentee voting to national elections only for Greeks living abroad failed as SYRIZA, PASOK and other opposition parties voted against the amendment.

The amendment was supported by only 158 members of the New Democracy party, the opposition voted against it, and Plisi Eleftherias declared itself “present.”

It should be noted that a majority of 200 deputies is required to pass the amendment, as it relates to the national election system. Against, The amendment to the European elections procedure introduced by the bill is approved by a simple majority of 151 MPs.

Interior Minister Niki Kerameos, concluding three days of plenary debate, accused SYRIZA and PASOK of bias, noting that voting against the bill and amendments pitted Hellenes living abroad against them.

“If we do not get the 200 votes needed to approve the amendment allowing Greeks abroad to vote in national elections by absentee ballot, we will raise this issue again and again until we give our compatriots the opportunity to vote this way.”– she clarified.

In addition, Ms. Kerameos recalled that SYRIZA and PASOK voted for the bill on absentee voting in the relevant committee, but in the process both parties arranged “somersaults”.

“They voted yes in principle in the committee for Greeks abroad to be able to vote by post in European elections, and when we asked them to extend this option to national elections, they somersaulted and said no to everything.”she said, adding that “SYRIZA called the bill it voted for just a few days ago unconstitutional. PASOK did the same.”

Insisting on her strong criticism of SYRIZA and PASOK, Kerameos referred to a recent interview with Stefanos Kasselakis, who argued that supporting absentee voting is the responsibility of the left. She also cited the minutes of a 2019 parliamentary meeting where PASOK appears to be calling on the government to introduce absentee voting for out-of-area voters – something the amendment proposes but PASOK is currently voting against.

“In the coming months, you will travel around the world and meet with Greeks abroad who are calling for the developments we are discussing today. They will ask you why you didn’t vote so that they could vote by absentee ballot? Why didn’t you “Voted when you were initially in favor? What do you say that you had problems with the process?” – she said.

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