PM tells Parliament minority stance on constitutional review was not ignored

In a speech to Parliament on Monday ahead of a vote on a series of articles of the Greek Constitution that have been proposed for review, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis heralded the upcoming revision as "one more democratic step." 

"Today, a process that Parliament started a year ago is being completed and from tomorrow the country will have a new Constitution," Mitsotakis told the House. He said the new charter would have the "stamp" of Parliament's conservative majority but was the product of cross-party consensus despite lingering objections by the main leftist opposition SYRIZA. 

Mitsotakis hit out at his predecessor, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras for accusing conservative New Democracy of not having a plan for its constitutional review and rejecting the groundwork laid by SYRIZA when it was in government. 

"Mr Tsipras, your proposals are not being rejected today by ND's parliamentary group," he siad. "They were rejected by the Greek people on July 7," he said, adding that his government had approached the challenge of constitutional revision "in a different way to that of SYRIZA." "The procedure started in its natural space, in Parliament, and not as a mass party fiesta in [Parliament's] front yard," he said, accusing Tsipras of political opportunism in some of his proposals. 

Later on Monday, Greek MPs are to vote on the articles proposed for review – which foresee granting voting rights to diaspora Greeks, the separation of the president’s election from the dissolution of Parliament and amending a law granting immunity to ministers facing prosecution among other thins.