Calamos Supports Greece
GreekReporter.comGreek NewsMembers of the Diaspora Eligible for Greek Parliament

Members of the Diaspora Eligible for Greek Parliament

The Greek government announced that a new bill is in creation which will allow individuals from the Greek diaspora to become members of the Greek parliament. The new bill calls to increase the number of appointed Members of Parliment from the current 12 to 15. There will be a requirement that the three new spots are filled by members of the Greek diaspora.

The Minister of Interior Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos clarified in «To Vima» that the bill would require political parties to agree to increase the number of the appointed Members of Parliment from 12 to 15 so that the three additional seats be allocated to representatives of the diaspora. Therefore, as stated, the new bill will brought to the House would require the parties to place expatriates in positions in the candidate list of State. Mr. Pavlopoulos also made clear that it will maintain the main lines of the Bill presented before the European Parliament and which follows the requirements of Article 51 Paragraph 4 of the Constitution.

The right to vote will be extended to Greek nationals, people who qualify for citizenship but have not yet activated the process. Greek nationals are registered within the poplulation of Greece and therefore on the electoral roll. The elections will be conducted on a rolling basis in all countries that Greeks vote in, but the counting and announcement of results will be simultaneously released. Greek nationals will vote for combinations of parties and coalitions of parties which have been divided into lists of State and Territory. Each ballot will include three candidates who have demonstrated that they have lived abroad for a decade or more before the announcement and have the right to stand before the legislation’s elected Members.

The government has again rejected the proposals of opposition parties for the introduction of absentee voting for external constituencies. The rationale, as Mr. Pavlopoulos told «To Vima», is that the absentee vote cannot guarantee the secrecy and validity of the vote.

Technology continues to improve the voting system. The transmission of telgrams between the departments of the Ministry of Interior can now be conducted with mobile phones, this will allow a complete tally of percentages for each political party just two hours after the closure of the ballot boxes.

(Translated by Rachel Portele, source: ana/mpa)

See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!



Related Posts