By Antonis Anzoletou

The decision of the government to run the procedures with the vote of the emigrants has been made. The new bill paves the way for all Greeks abroad, who are registered in the electoral rolls, to be able to participate in the electoral process wherever they live.

Those who have the right to vote will be able to register in the foreign registers and exercise their right to vote in embassies and consulates.

As stated in Niki Kerameos of SKAI radio, it is not a new procedure, but for the facilitation of Greeks abroad, who are registered in the electoral rolls and therefore retain their right to vote. The Minister of the Interior spoke of a “historic opportunity”. The bill is already out for consultation. On July 18, it is expected to be submitted to Parliament in order to be voted on by the end of the month.

Two key restrictions that existed in the 2019 law (it had received 288 votes) are removed. In order to vote, expatriates should have lived in Greece for at least two of the last 35 years. And at the same time they have submitted a tax return either for the current or the previous tax year.

It is recalled that a legislative initiative of the New Democracy had followed for the vote of emigrants without any restrictions which had not produced any result. It was supported by PASOK and the Hellenic Solution, gathering 190 positive votes. SYRIZA abstained from the vote.

With the new correlations, the three parties count 202 votes, while Freedom Sailing does not seem opposed to supporting the regulation.

The legislative intervention will be exactly the same as the one that was filed. The heads of “Niki” and “Spartiats” were placed in favor of the vote of the emigrants, without specifying whether they put terms and conditions. Today Sokratis Famellos will meet with Niki Kerameos and Theodoros Livanios in the Parliament and then he will announce the conditions that SYRIZA is putting in order to vote on the bill.

Only 22,800 Greeks abroad had the right to participate in the May 21 elections. On June 25, they increased to 25,600. In total, the registered Greeks abroad in the electoral rolls are estimated to be over 800,000. 600,000 are estimated for the VAT number of Greeks abroad (natural persons and companies).

In order for the draft law to be ratified, it must gather 200 votes. It is a fact that from the moment the electoral body passes, it is expected to change significantly. And this is something that all parties weigh. In the briefing for the political editors, the government representative, Pavlos Marinakis, stated that “due to some technical issues, the issue of the letter is not in the discussion at this stage, we want the electoral process to be fully guaranteed”.