House speaker wants debate on military-style parades

Parliament speaker Nikos Voutsis has said there must be a debate on the nature of school parades and whether they should be held or not.

“I do not think that [military-style parades] are a great idea. It’s not a coincidence that parades of this nature do not take place almost anywhere in Europe,” Voutsis told state-run ERT TV on Wednesday.

“I do not think this should be a major issue for Greek society today,” he said.

Voutsis’s comments came in the wake of controversy over the leftist government’s decision to scrap a long tradition of honoring top pupils by selecting them to carry the national flag in school parades. From now on flag-bearers will be chosen by lot.