A draft law detailing how Greeks living abroad may vote in national elections was defeated in Parliament by a narrow margin on Wednesday, after contentious debate from committee level to plenary. (Photo by Eurokinissi/Yiorgos Kontarinis)
ATHENS – A bill that would have given voting rights to Greeks abroad was defeated in Greece's Parliament after resistance from rivals of the New Democracy government, led by the major opposition SYRIZA.
The measure required at least 200 votes in the 300-member Parliament and got 190, from the government's 158 lawmakers and backing from the Movement for Change KINAL and ultra-populist Greek Solution.
But 87 Members of Parliament didn't vote and opposition from SYRIZA the KKE Communists and the marginal MeRA25 led by the Leftists former finance chief Yanis Varoufakis was enough to stymie it.
The measure was one of those most heralded by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who after the defeat made an exclusive statement to The National Herald that it fell because of the “small-minded party interests of SYRIZA”.
He added of his rivals: “Its short-sighted party viewpoint undermined once again a national necessity,” although the leftists apparently were worried that Greeks abroad would tilt toward the Conservatives.
Technically, the bill would have removed all restrictions for the Diaspora to vote in national elections – which New Democracy did after SYRIZA said it would not otherwise support it – but then voted against its own idea.
In 2019, Mitsotakis proposed a Diaspora vote but said it would be t would be very limited and apply only to those who had a two-year stay in Greece for the last 35 years and for those over 30 to be tax-registered in Greece and those abroad could vote only for a handful of seats in Parliament.
In April this year, Theodora Tzakri, a SYRIZA lawmaker responsible for diaspora affairs, told The National Herald that Greeks living abroad were being subject to “unjust and degrading limitations” and that SYRIZA would lift the restrictions if it came to power again.
But after Mitsotakis lifted the restrictions, the leftists voted it down apparently so as to not give New Democracy the credit for allowing the Diaspora vote.
“Unfortunately today, the country has lost the opportunity to give Greeks living abroad the right to vote unhindered in national elections from their place of residence,” Mitsotakis said.
Earlier in May, representatives of the Greeks living abroad, who said they numbered 7.5 million or three quarters of Greece's population, told Interior Minister Makis Voridis they wanted to be able to vote in national elections.
They said all Greeks abroad who were registered on voting lists should be able to vote from their place of residence with the option of mail-in ballots as well.
ATHENS - The first reading of a Finance Ministry bill ratifying the concession for the casino at Hellenikon project and legislating the restart of the Skaramagas Shipyards was completed at the Greek Parliament's Standing Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
PHILADELPHIA – The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley announced that the Evzones, the Presidential Guard of Greece will be participating in the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade on March 20.
O oceanic you sing and sail
White on your body and yellow on your chimeneas
For you're tired of the filthy waters of the harbors
You who loved the distant Sporades
You who lifted the tallest flags
You who sail clear through the most dangerous caves
Hail to you who let yourself be charmed by the sirens
Hail to you for never having been afraid of the Symplegades
(Andreas Empeirikos)
What traveler has not been fascinated by the Greek islands, drawn by the Sirens’ song of a traveler’s dreams?
TNH and our video show ‘Mission’ marked the change of the season by transporting viewers into the heart of summer.
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