Respecting the rules

The institution of state list candidates was established after the end of the 1967-74 military dictatorship in order to allow people with a good reputation and good track record who wanted to be involved in politics access to a position without having to go through the process of wooing the electorate to put a tick by their name on the ballot.

State list candidates are not elected by constituency but depending on the party’s percentage on a national basis.

The idea behind this institution was not to create a seat for deadbeat politicians and the friends of party leaders.

There are certain party leaders who do in fact use the state lists to attract important Greeks to politics and to increase the stature of their parties. That is what all the parties should be doing, mainly because we need as many serious people in Parliament as we can possibly get now more than ever.