By Penelope Galliou

Without leaving room for deviations from the objective of passing the bill for the marriage of same-sex couples and all the rights that derive from it, the Prime Minister convenes today at noon (12:00 p.m.) the Council of Ministers, after the short postponement it took due to his illness with the H1N1 flu and after the Church, after the meeting of the Holy Synod on the matter, opened its papers and revealed its movements until the passing of the bill.

The government is trying to keep a low profile on the issue, leaving no room for retreats from the basic philosophy of the law and its goal, which is to restore the rights to marriage and to same-sex couples. According to government sources, the same will be the message – response that the Prime Minister will send today from the floor of the Council of Ministers, to all dissenters and especially to the Church, making it clear that all opinions are respected, but the government is she who legislates. After all, this was also the comment of government officials, in its unanimous reaction of the Holy Synod on the same-sex marriage bill, saying they “respect the views of the church” while declining to comment further.

At today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, during which Mr Akis Schertsos will present the much-discussed legislative regulation, the spotlight will inevitably turn to intra-governmental disputes, with the face of the meeting remaining the Minister of State, Makis Voridis, who, long before the public debate “opened”, had expressed his disagreement with the impending bill and remains immovable in its place. In fact, it is not excluded that Mr. Voridis will take the floor and explain his position, without, however, any mood of rupture and confrontation, as he has already done until today, keeping a low tone. Information even states that during the voting of the bill in the Parliament, it is not excluded that he chooses the “path” of abstention, so as not to escalate the climate and create wrong impressions. An attitude, which is expected to be positively evaluated by the Maximos Palace as, as in all the previous days, government sources were leaking, photographing Mr. Voridis, the crisis for the government officials will be a result of their overall attitude and not only from their position on a bill. “The attitude towards the government is not judged by an individual issue, it is judged overall by the government’s policy” they commented.

Her attitude remains a question Deputy Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Maria Kefala, which has expressed reservations. However, from the fact that she is a deputy minister in one of the ministries that propose the specific bill, her position acquires another weight, as it would weigh otherwise, in the “scale” of the Maximos Palace for the possible consequences.

The government representative, however, artificially avoids entering into estimates, about the fate of the dissenting government officials, however, sending indirect messages. “The prime minister responded by saying that those who participate in a leading body, such as the Council of Ministers, and approve the bills, have an increased institutional obligation. I think this says it all,” he said. However, he hastened to add: “However, we must not prejudge the attitude of a Minister, a Member of Parliament, any person who has the right to vote anywhere. We cannot, in other words, just like for the parliamentary elections where the right to vote is sacred and is, essentially, constituent element of Democracy. I think it is better to see how they will position themselves after the initial position of the rapporteur Minister, Mr. Skertsos, the Minister of State, as responsible for the adoption of a strategy that we had in our pre-election program, to listen to the positions within the Cabinet, let’s see what will be the attitude of each Minister as a Member of Parliament.” concluded on the subject.

In addition to same-sex marriage, the Cabinet’s agenda also includes:

-Presentation by the Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis and Deputy Minister Yiannis Bougas of the bill for the judicial map,

-Presentation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis and Deputy Minister Giorgos Kotsiras of the Strategic Plan for Hellenism Abroad,

-Presentation by the Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou of the bill for the implementation measures of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 regarding the single market of digital services.