PM presents proposals for 'New Greece' through a revised Constitution
Baku, May 8 (AZERTAC). Prime Minister Antonis Samaras outlined his proposals for radical changes to Greece's Constitution at a special event held at the Athens Concert Hall on Wednesday, where he stressed that the foremost issue was "the future of a New Greece".
"Today we are making a leap, we are changing the country's political and state identity," he said, noting that Greece had lagged behind because it had followed a statist model that led to excessive borrowing and eventually the country's collapse.
While much had changed over the past two years, he added, Greece must still "emerge victorious" and needed a new constitution in order to achieve this.
"The country needs a new architecture. On September 3 the process will officially begin so that the next Parliament is revisionary. We will set the agenda, we will listen to everything and discuss it," he said.
Among the changes the premier proposed were a stronger regulatory role of the country's president, including the president's direct election by the people, and a smaller Parliament with fewer MPs. He called for greater guarantees that governments will complete their four-year term, with a stable electoral system that could only be changed by a three-fifths majority in Parliament, as well as more flexible governments combined with three permanent deputy ministers in foreign affairs, defence and the budget, each with a five-year term.
Other proposals included the abolition of the current plethora of ministry general secretaries, allowing only one per ministry, an end to current privileges for MPs and ministers with respect to the law - including abolition of the law on ministerial responsibility - and a revision of article 90 to ensure fully independent justice and stronger separation of the government from the legislature and justice.
Among others, Samaras proposed the introduction of measures barring MPs from becoming ministers, so that entering Parliament was no longer a stepping-stone for joining the government.
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