President of the Hellenic Parliament
Πρόεδρος της Βουλής των Ελλήνων
Incumbent Nikitas Kaklamanis since 22 January 2025
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Hellenic Parliament
Term length	Four years, renewable
Inaugural holder	Alexandros Mavrokordatos
Formation	1844; 181 years ago (1844) Current Constitution: 11 June 1975; 50 years ago (1975-06-11)
Website	Official Website

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Thepresident of the Hellenic Parliament^[1] is the presiding officer of theParliament of Greece. The president's term coincides with the term of the assembly, and is chosen by a vote during the opening session, after each legislative election. Following is a list of speakers of the Hellenic Parliament or other national legislative bodies such as theGreek Senate, from the time of theGreek War of Independence till present. Theofficial order of precedence ranks the speaker of the Hellenic Parliament in the 3rd position, after the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister.

The incumbent President isNikitas Kaklamanis ofNew Democracy.

According to theConstitution of Greece, in the event of a temporary absence of thepresident of the Hellenic Republic on account of illness, travel abroad or similar circumstances, the speaker of the parliament serves as acting president, and exercises the powers of the state president until the president resumes his functions, and in the event that the presidency falls vacant as a result of death or resignation or for any other reason, until the election of a new president.

The election of the Speaker of the Parliament is one of the most important moments in the operation of the Parliament, not only because the office of the Speaker of the Parliament is significant in itself, but also because the secret vote for the election of the Speaker constitutes the first opportunity for the assessment of the cohesiveness of the majority in Parliament. The Speaker is elected by the absolute majority of the total number of the MPs (i.e. by 151 votes). If this majority is not attained, the vote is repeated, and the candidate who gets the most votes is elected.

The Speaker of the Parliament directs the business of the Parliament, represents the Parliament, is responsible for the enforcement of disciplinary measures against parliamentarians, and generally, is the head of all the services of the Parliament and possesses all the responsibilities bestowed on him or her by the Constitution, the Standing Orders, or stemming from the principle of independence of Parliament. In other words, the Speaker has the final say on all matters that concern the inner workings of Parliament.

The Speaker is third in line in the Order of Precedence of the State, following the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister and preceding the leader of the Opposition. Additionally, the Speaker stands inpro tempore for the President of the Republic when the latter is abroad for a prolonged period of time, passes away, resigns, is deposed, or is hindered from performing his or her duties for any reason whatsoever.

ThePresidium of Parliament is the group of individuals elected by theHellenic Parliament to deal with the business of organizing and running the Parliament. This is provided for by Article 65 of theConstitution of Greece.

The Presidium is:

• The President of Parliament
• Seven Deputy speakers
• Three Deans
• Six Secretaries

^[2]It is mandatory that the fourth Deputy Speaker, one dean and one secretary belong to the major opposition party, and that the fifth Deputy Speaker and one secretary belong to the second-in-power opposition party, and that the sixth Deputy Speaker belong to the third-in-power opposition party, and that the seventh Deputy Speaker belong to the fourth-in-power opposition party. A member of the Presidium, who of course must be a parliamentarian, cannot be a member of the Cabinet or an Under-Secretary.

The Deputy Speakers perform their duties as assigned to them by the Speaker or as provided in theStanding Orders. The Deans assist the Speaker in organizational and executive matters of the Parliament, while the Secretaries assist the Speaker in the Parliamentary sessions and are responsible for whatever else the Speaker assigns to them.

This includes the presidents of the variousGreek National Assemblies and the Legislative Corps (Βουλευτικό) during theGreek War of Independence.

Note: all dates areOld Style

This includes the presidents of the National Assemblies and the various legislative bodies under GovernorIoannis Kapodistrias and his successors.

Note: all dates areOld Style

Presidents of the National Assemblies and the Parliament (Βουλή)

Presidents of theSenate (Γερουσία)

WhenKing Otto arrived in Greece, he was still aminor, and until 1835 the country was governed by aregency council. The regents ignored the so-called "Hegemonic Constitution [fr]" voted by theFifth National Assembly, and when Otto assumed full powers, he ruled as anabsolute monarch. The only "parliamentary" body was the 20-memberCouncil of State (Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας), but its role was purely consultative and it was strictly controlled by the King.

The3 September 1843 Revolution forced Otto to grant aconstitution, which was promulgated by the"3rd of September" National Assembly [el]. The new constitution provided for aconstitutional monarchy with abicameral parliament composed of the Senate (Γερουσία) and the Parliament (Βουλή).

The Parliament was to have no less than 80 members (in practice the number was between 127 and 142) with a three-year tenure (in practice some 2,5 years).

Note: all dates areOld Style

The Senate had a minimum of 27 members and could reach 39. Senators had to be over 40 years old, were named by the King and served for life. As a clearly monarchical instrument, it was abolished after 1862.

Note: all dates areOld Style

After the ousting of King Otto,elections were held to form theSecond National Assembly [el], which effectively ran the country until the arrival of KingGeorge I in October 1863. The Assembly thereafter promulgated theConstitution of 1864 and dissolved itself on 16 November 1864. The new constitution was liberal, established the principle ofpopular sovereignty and defined the country's new form of government as a Constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy (βασιλευομένη δημοκρατία), but retained considerable executive powers for the king. The Senate was abolished, and a unicameral parliament (Βουλή) of 181 members with a four-year term was proclaimed as the country's sole legislative body.

The first decade was marked by frequent changes of government, especially due to the king's interference. A landmark was the adoption of the "dedilomeni principle", championed byCharilaos Trikoupis, in 1875, which forced the king to appoint only governments that commanded aparliamentary majority and had the "declared (dedilomeni) confidence of the parliament". The 1880s and 1890s were also marked by political instability. TheGoudi coup of 1909 resulted in the arrival ofEleftherios Venizelos and theAugust 1910 elections for a Revisoniary Parliament. New elections for a new Revisoniary Parliament were held inNovember, and theConstitution of 1911 was promulgated in June 1911. Political upheaval in the form of theNational Schism dominated Greek politics from 1915 on, resulting in theAsia Minor Disaster and the abolition of the monarchy in 1924.

Note: all dates areOld Style

TheFourth National Assembly of the Greece, resulting from theDecember 1923 elections, declared the abolition of the monarchy and constituted itself as the Fourth Constitutional Assembly on 25 March 1924. On 30 September 1925, the Parliament was abolished after the25 June coup d'état led byTheodoros Pangalos. The first regular parliament, after the coup, of theSecond Hellenic Republic came about only after Pangalos' fall, with the1926 elections. The new parliament voted theConstitution of 1927, which also re-established theSenate, for which thefirst elections were held in 1929.

This includes the post-World War II period up to the establishment of theGreek military junta of 1967–1974.

The fall of the junta brought about a major regime change (metapolitefsi), which included the abolition of the monarchy by referendum. The strongtwo-party system ofPASOK andNew Democracy made the parliamentary life of theThird Hellenic Republic the most regular in Greek political history, with the exception of the 1989–90 political crisis. After 2011, the prevailing political system was shattered through the effects of the prolongedGreek debt crisis, leading to the marginalization of PASOK and the election, for the first time, of a left-wing party, theCoalition of the Radical Left, to power in theJanuary 2015 elections.

Portrait	Name	Entered office	Left office	Party		Comments
	Konstantinos Papakonstantinou [el]	December 9, 1974	December 12, 1977		New Democracy	Parliament (Fifth Revisionary) resulting from the1974 elections
	Dimitrios Papaspyrou [el]	December 12, 1977	November 17, 1981		New Democracy	Parliament resulting from the1977 elections
	Ioannis Alevras	November 17, 1981	June 18, 1985		Panhellenic Socialist Movement	Parliament resulting from the1981 elections
		June 18, 1985	July 4, 1989			Parliament (Sixth Revisionary) resulting from the1985 elections
	Athanasios Tsaldaris [el]	July 4, 1989	November 21, 1989		New Democracy	Parliament resulting from theJune 1989 elections
		November 21, 1989	April 22, 1990			Parliament resulting from theNovember 1989 elections
		April 22, 1990	October 22, 1993			Parliament resulting from the1990 elections
	Apostolos Kaklamanis	October 22, 1993	October 8, 1996		Panhellenic Socialist Movement	Parliament resulting from the1993 elections
		October 8, 1996	April 21, 2000			Parliament resulting from the1996 elections
		April 21, 2000	March 19, 2004			Parliament (Seventh Revisionary) resulting from the2000 elections
	Anna Benaki-Psarouda	March 19, 2004	September 27, 2007		New Democracy	Parliament resulting from the2004 elections, first female speaker
	Dimitris Sioufas	September 27, 2007	October 15, 2009		New Democracy	Parliament (Eighth Revisionary) resulting from the2007 elections
	Philippos Petsalnikos	October 15, 2009	May 18, 2012		Panhellenic Socialist Movement	Parliament resulting from the2009 elections
	Vyron Polydoras	May 18, 2012	June 29, 2012		New Democracy	Parliament resulting from theMay 2012 elections
	Vangelis Meimarakis	June 29, 2012	February 6, 2015		New Democracy	Parliament resulting from theJune 2012 elections
	Zoi Konstantopoulou	February 6, 2015	October 4, 2015		Coalition of the Radical Left	Parliament resulting from theJanuary 2015 elections
	Nikos Voutsis	October 4, 2015	July 18, 2019		Coalition of the Radical Left	Parliament resulting from theSeptember 2015 elections
	Konstantinos Tasoulas	July 18, 2019	May 29, 2023		New Democracy	Parliament resulting from the2019 elections
		May 29, 2023				Parliament resulting fromMay 2023 elections
		July 3, 2023	16 January 2025			Parliament resulting from theJune 2023 elections
	Nikitas Kaklamanis	22 January 2025	Incumbent		New Democracy	Following the resignation of Tasoulas after being nominated forPresident of Greece

• History of modern Greece
• Politics of Greece

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSpeakers of the Hellenic Parliament.

• Πρόεδροι της Βουλής και των Εθνοσυνελεύσεων, 1821–2008 [Presidents of Parliament and the National Assemblies, 1821–2008](PDF) (in Greek). foundation.parliament.gr. 2009.ISBN 978-960-6757-16-7.

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