By Penelope Galliou

At the completion of the first “package” of emblematic reforms of a social nature, the government is moving forward this week with the bill for the establishment of non-state, non-profit universities in the country, which will be introduced tomorrow to the Education Affairs Committee of the Parliament for discussion and its vote by the Plenary of the Parliament, expected the first ten days of March.

After the legalization of marriage for same-sex couples and the enactment of the new Penal Code, the government passed the Ministry of Education bill “Strengthening the Public University – Framework for the operation of non-profit branches of foreign universities” accelerates on the way to June’s European elections, having legislated and implemented a series of pre-election commitments and is heading to the polls in a clear horizon of three months, without social and political tensions.

An important paper throughout the pre-election period for the European elections, all the reforms of the government are expected to be, starting with the first one that it tabled after its victory in the national elections and established almost 50% of the pre-election commitments, while other key bills followed which concerned the changes in the Health system and the EKAV, the tax bill, the postal vote.

Legislations that according to government sources prove the ND government’s unwavering will to move the country forward with the necessary reforms and changes without calculating the political cost and weighing in small party terms the necessary legislative improvements for the country.

In the following days, the reform of Higher Education attracts the attention and interest of both parties and society, while for the government it is a leading and emblematic reform, which, apart from a pre-election commitment, has been a central political pursuit of the ND since the period of its administration Costa Karamanli, which however then “stumbled” in the revision of Article 16 of the Constitution and the legislation was not achieved until today. Therefore, in contrast to the turmoil caused in the ND by the bill on the marriage of same-sex couples, the present Ministry of Education bill on non-state, non-profit Universities is sure to backfire and rally for the ruling party’s caucus.

In contrast to the opposition that focuses on the establishment of non-state non-profit universities, speaking of “commercialization of Higher Education”, the government also focuses on the changes brought about by the bill in question to public universities, speaking of “a historic reform for public mainly universities, because this 70% of the law concerns public universities, their empowerment, their funding, their strengthening, their partnership with large universities abroad, the freedoms they take, requests, which the rectors have made over time, the councils chancellors and students have asked the State and the State now listens to them” commented the government representative in an interview.

After the Ministry of Education bill, the national action plan for demographics and the family is expected to take the baton which will be called if it faces long-term pathologies that concern the vast majority of citizens and is not expected to cause reactions, similar to those faced by the government in the last months, so that without foci of tension and reactions it can focus on the political messages it wants to broadcast and communicate ahead of the June European elections.