1. Greece Political System & Institutions Armenio High School 1

2. According to the 1st article of the Greek Constitution The form of Government of Greece is that of Parliamentary Republic Popular sovereignty is the foundation of the Government All powers derive from the People and exist for the People and the Nation 2

3. Basic characteristics of Greek political system of government (1): Greece is a Presidential Parliamentary Representative Democracy The President is the head of state The Prime Minister is the head of Government There is a multi-party system: parties across the political spectrum run for national election There is separation of powers with three (3) branches: legislative, executive and judiciary 3

4. Seperation of Powers Legislative Power to make and change law Executive Power to put law in action Judiciary Power to make judgements to law 4

5. Executive Power: The President of the Republic 5 ● is elected by the Parliament for a five-year term ● serves a maximum of two terms in office ● appoints the Prime Minister ● has the power to declare war and to conclude international agreements Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos

6. Executive Power: The Prime Minister 6 ● is the most powerful person of the Greek political system ● is elected by the people ● appointed by the President with the absolute majority of seats in the Parliament ( namely the principle of ‘declared confidence’ ) ● directs the activities of the Government Mr. Alexis Tsipras SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left)

7. Executive Power: The Cabinet (Ministerial Council) 7 ● constitutes the Government of Greece ● is composed of the Prime Minister and the Ministers ● Ministers are appointed by the President of the Republic on the advice of Prime Minister ● The Council defines and directs the general policy of the state The Ministerial Council

8. Photos from the Oath Ceremony of Prime Minister and the Ministers (Sep. 2015) 8

9. Legislative Power: The Parliament 9 ● The Legislature is elected by universal suffrage of all Greek citizens over the age of 18 ● It has 300 members, elected for a four-year term ● In Greece there is a unicameral Legislature The Parliament (indoors)

10. Panoramic photo of the building of the Hellenic Parliament 10

11. Voting and Election System 11

12. Voting and Election System 12 ● It’s called Reinforced Proportional Representation. ● The 288 members of Parliament are elected in multi-seat and single-seat constituencies. ● The other 12 members are elected from a nationwide list. ● In order to elect members of Parliament, a political party must receive at least 3% of the votes. ● The first party in votes gets a 50-seat bonus in order to ensure that elections return viable governing majorities.

13. Legislative Procedure: Step 1, 2, 3 13 ● (1) Government or Parliament Members (PMs) submit bills, amendments and additions to the Parliament. ● Government bills are called Draft Laws. ● Bills submitted by PMs are called Law Proposals. ● An explanatory report is attached to all bills, elaborating on the purpose of the proposed legislation. ● (2) All bills are then examined and prepared by the Parliament’s Scientific Agency. ● (3) Bills are examined by the General Accounting Office about any economic impact.

14. Legislative Procedure: Step 4, 5, 6, 7 14 ● (4) The next step is the discussion of the bills in parliamentary committees depending on the subject. ● (5) The bills are entering the discussion before the Parliament which takes place in three stages: a) introductory discussion, b) discussion by article and c) discussion as a whole. ● (6) Bills are approved if they get at least the votes of half of the PMs being present, plus one. ● (7) Finally, they are published to the Government’s newspaper and they immediately become laws of the state.

15. Composition of the Greek Parliament 15

16. Judicial Power 16 Civil Court for civil cases Penal Court for penal cases Administrative Court for administrative cases, namely disputes between citizens and the state The Constitution defines three (3) types of courts:

17. Judicial Power: Civil Courts 17 Civil cases are judged: (1) at first instance by: ● the District Court ● the Court of First Instance (2) at second instance by: ● the Court of Appeal (3) by the Court of Cassation. Its decisions are irrevocable.

18. Judicial Power: Penal Courts 18 Penal cases are judged as follows: (1) Infringements are judged by the Magistrate’s Court (2) Misdemeanours are judged: ● at first instance by the Misdemeanours Court ● at second instance by the Court of Appeal (3) Felonies are judged: ● at first instance by the “Mixed” Court of First Instance ● at second instance by the “Mixed” Court of Appeal

19. Judicial Power: Administrative Courts 19 Administrative cases are judged by: (1) Administrative Court for administative acts of the first case (2) Council of State or Administrative Court of Appeal for all other administrative acts (3) Chamber of Accounts, a supreme administrative court whose jurisdiction is limited in certain particular areas (e.g. disputes between the state and civil servants concerning their pensions)

20. Judicial Power: EU Law and the Constitution 20 The Court of Justice of the European Communities considers the EU Law superior to the national laws, including the national constitutions. This applies where the European Council have expressly legislated in particular areas.

21. Administrative Division of Greece 21 Greece is a Unitary State. According to the “Kallikratis” Plan (2011), the administrative divisions of Greece consist of two main levels: 1 st : regions 2 nd : municipalities

22. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 22 Eastern Macedonia & Thrace

23. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 23 Central Macedonia

24. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 24 Western Macedonia

25. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 25 Epirus

26. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 26 Thessaly

27. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 27 Ionian Islands

28. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 28 Central Greece

29. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 29 Western Greece

30. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 30 Attica

31. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 31 Peloponnese

32. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 32 North Aegean

33. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 33 South Aegean

34. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 34 Crete

35. Administrative Division of Greece: 13 Regions 35 Agion Oros (Holy Mountain) is a Monastic State located at Mount Athos and is an autonomous self- governing entity.

36. Administrative Division of Greece: Municipalities 36 Regions are divided to Regional Units. There are 74 Regional Units, which are then divided to 325 Municipalities.

37. Armenio 37 Armenio belongs to the Municipality of Kileler, Regional Unit of Larissa, Region of Thessaly.

38. Beyond the institutions and the constitutional previsions … The untold characteristics of Greek political life 38 Before the 2012 elections the Greek political system was a two-party system. Dominant parties: the Conservative Party (New Democracy) and the Socialist Party (PASOK). Elections of the 25 th of January 2015: - for the first time a left political party, Syriza, won the elections - Alexis Tsipras became the first left Prime minister in Greek history. - 9 months later, at new elections, Syriza confirmed its dominance in the Greek political scene.

39. 39 Beyond the institutions and the constitutional previsions … The untold characteristics of Greek political life Political interweaving sinful triangle For decades there has been in Greek politics a strong relation between 3 major factors (the so- called sinful triangle): 1)Dominant political parties 2)Economic and business elite and bankers 3)Mass media tycoons Each one of them supported the systemic party in power and – as a qui pro quo payment – governments used to provide loans to them and profuse financial support. This corrupted situation, connected to nepotism and the use of state machine as a way for gaining votes and electoral support, has led Greece to its actual economic and social plight.

40. 40 Grazie! Merci beaucoup! Σας ευχαριστούμε! Armenio High School