“For 50 years in this Chamber we have been debating whether we will facilitate our fellow Greeks living abroad in exercising their sacred right to vote”
“Since a consensus is being formed for the postal vote of Greek residents abroad in the European elections, why not also for the national elections? This is a self-evident extension of a facility that we have been discussing for five decades,” he said the Minister of the Interior Niki Kerameos responding to the criticisms of the Opposition parties in the announcement of the filing of an amendment to extend the possibility of postal voting for residents abroad and for national elections.
Mrs. Kerameos said that “for 50 years in this Chamber we have been debating whether we will make it easier for our Greek citizens living abroad to exercise their sacred right to vote”. He pointed out that since 2019, “steps that transcend parties and colors” have been taken in this direction. “Let’s go”, said the minister, “step by step all the parties together”.
He noted that last week in Committee of the Parliament “a very important step was taken” with the consents expressed on the beginning of the bill and which “exceed the 230 votes” for the possibility of postal voting by Greeks living abroad for the European elections”. “We” said the minister, “in this fact that honors not the ND but the national parliament and our political system we did not remain passive and we come to the beginning of a three-day debate in the Plenary and we say that if a consensus is formed for the postal vote of the Greeks of foreign residents in the European elections, why not also for the national elections?” He noticed that all the organizations of the emigrants requested the extension of the postal vote for the national elections as well.
The minister rejected the criticisms of a coup d’état initiative and legislative authoritarianism, wondering how it is possible to say these things when we are talking about “the removal of practical obstacles to the exercise of the right to vote”.
He pointed out that there is an explicit Constitutional provision (art. 51 par. 4 C) “which provides for the existence of an enhanced majority, 200 deputies for such a vote” and added that “each and every one is judged” and “it would be wrong not to let’s seize this opportunity for the benefit of the diaspora Hellenism and our country. As Greece has only to gain from further tightening these ties with our precious expatriate Hellenism”.
Source: Skai
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