| Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic | |
|---|---|
| Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας | |
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| Style | His Excellency[1](formal and diplomatic) Mr Prime Minister(informal) |
| Status | Head of government |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | |
| Residence | Maximos Mansion |
| Appointer | President of Greece |
| Term length | Four years, renewable |
| Inaugural holder | Spyridon Trikoupis |
| Formation | 13 January 1822; 203 years ago (1822-01-13) |
| Deputy | Deputy Prime Minister |
| Salary | €99,420 annually[citation needed] |
| Website | www |
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Theprime minister of the Hellenic Republic (Greek:Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας,romanized: Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), usually referred to as theprime minister of Greece (Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας,Prothypourgós tis Elládas), is thehead of government of theHellenic Republic and the leader of theGreek Cabinet.
The officeholder's official seat (but not residence) is theMaximos Mansion in the centre ofAthens. After thePresidency of the Government (Προεδρία της Κυβερνήσεως,Proedría tis Kyverníseos) was established, the office is referred to either as Prime Minister orPresident of the Government (Πρόεδρος της Κυβερνήσεως,Próedros tis Kyverníseos).[2]
The prime minister is officially appointed by thepresident of Greece.
According to Article 37 of theGreek Constitution, thepresident of the Hellenic Republic shall appoint the leader of the political party with theabsolute majority of seats in theparliament as prime minister. If no party has theabsolute majority, the president shall give the leader of the party with arelative majority (plurality) an exploratory mandate in order to ascertain the possibility of forming a government enjoying the confidence ofparliament.
If this possibility cannot be ascertained, the president shall give the exploratory mandate to the leader of the second largest party in Parliament, and if this proves to be unsuccessful, to the leader of the third largest party in parliament. Each exploratory mandate shall be in force for three days.
If all exploratory mandates prove to be unsuccessful, the president summons all party leaders, and if the impossibility to form a cabinet enjoying the confidence of the parliament is confirmed, the president shall attempt to form a cabinet composed of all parties in parliament for the purpose of holding parliamentary elections. If this fails, the president shall entrust the president of theSupreme Administrative Court or of theSupreme Civil and Criminal Court or of theCourt of Auditors to form a cabinet as widely accepted as possible to carry out elections after the president dissolves Parliament.
Therefore, the election of members of a certain party to parliament is the equivalent to a vote for that party's leader for prime minister.[3]
Before taking office, the prime minister is sworn in at a religious ceremony inside thePresidential Mansion. Prime ministers are sworn in by thearchbishop of Athens who is the head of theChurch of Greece. The archbishop begins with a few prayers and theKyrie Eleison, and then the prime minister-elect places his hand on theBible placed in between two lit candles, all on a table between him and the archbishop. Following after the archbishop, the prime minister-elect then recites the oath:
I swear in the name of the Holy,Consubstantial andIndivisibleTrinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws and to serve the general interest of the Greek People.
The archbishop then recites a few more blessings, and the participants make thesign of the cross three times. The archbishop then congratulates the new prime minister, who then shakes hands with the president before the pertinent documents are signed.
In 2015Alexis Tsipras, a self-proclaimed atheist, became the first prime minister to opt for a secularaffirmation instead of the traditional religious oath. He was sworn in by PresidentKarolos Papoulias instead of thearchbishop of Athens, and, in place of the above oath, recited[4] the affirmation:
Mr President, I would like to assure you, on my honour and conscience, that I will follow the Constitution and the laws and will always serve the general interest of the Greek People.
He then shook hands with the president, who congratulated him, before proceeding to sign the official documents as normal.
When Tsipras assumed the premiership again, on 21 September 2015, PresidentProkopis Pavlopoulos decided that the affirmation had to be more formal, as it follows:
I affirm, on my honour and conscience, that I will follow the Constitution and the laws and will serve the general interest of the Greek People.
TheMaximos Mansion (Greek: Μέγαρο Μαξίμου) has been the official seat of the prime minister of Greece since 1982. It is located in central Athens, near Syntagma Square. Although the building contains the offices of the head of the Greek Government, it is not used as the residence of the prime minister.Maximou is ametonym for theGovernment of Greece.
During theGreek War of Independence, different regions of Greece that were free ofOttoman control began establishingdemocratic systems for self-government, such as the Peloponnesian Senate. Meanwhile, a series of overarchingNational Assemblies, such as theFirst National Assembly at Epidaurus, met from time to time to provide overall coordination. The First Assembly elected a 5-member executive council, which was headed byAlexandros Mavrokordatos.[5]
The Executive continued to govern Greece until 1828, whenIoannis Kapodistrias assumed the governance of the state as "Governor of Greece"—simultaneously head of state and of the government.[5] Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831 and his government, presided over by his brotherAugustinos, collapsed the following year. It was replaced by a series of collective governmental councils, which lasted until 1833, when Greece became a monarchy.
In 1832, Greece's nascent experiment with democracy was ended and amonarchy was established with the underageBavarian PrinceOtto as king. Initially, the government was led by aregency council made up of Bavarians. The president of this council, CountJosef Ludwig von Armansperg was thede facto head of government under Otto. Later Otto dismissed his Bavarian advisers and wielded power as anabsolute monarch, effectively ashead of state and his own head of government.[6]
King Otto's reign as an absolute monarch ended when agitators for a constitution (as promised when the monarchy was established) rose in the 3 September Revolution in 1843. Otto was forced to grant aconstitution andAndreas Metaxas took power; he is credited with being the first Greek to formally serve as "Prime Minister."
Once the office of prime minister was established, the responsibility for self-government again fell to the Greek people. However, two factors maintained significant power for the crown: the Greek party structure was weak and client-based, and the monarch was free to select any member of parliament to form a government.[6]
In 1862,Otto was deposed and the Greek people chose a new monarch in the person of KingGeorge I of Greece.[citation needed] In the next 15 years, the party structures began to evolve into more modern ideological parties with theNationalist Party led byAlexandros Koumoundouros on the right and the more liberalNew Party led byCharilaos Trikoupis. Trikoupis was successful after the election of 1874 in forcing the king to accept the "dedilomeni principle" (Greek:αρχή της δεδηλωμένης)--that the leader of the majority in parliament must be selected as prime minister by the king.[7]
The Nationalists were later led byTheodoros Deligiannis who famously said "was against everything Trikoupis was for." This two-party system existed until 1910, even asGeorgios Theotokis took over the New Party after the death of Trikoupis in 1895 and the assassination of Deligiannis in 1905, which led to a splintering of parties on the conservative and nationalist side.
In 1910, military officers sparked the fall of civilian government when they issued theGoudi Pronunciamento. This event led to the arrival in Greece of theCretan politicianEleftherios Venizelos. His followers gathered in theLiberal Party, which, despite Venizelos' dominant status, constituted the first true party in the modern sense, in that it was formed around a progressive, liberal and pro-republican political agenda.
The Liberal Party was eventually opposed by the more conservative and pro-royalistPeople's Party, initially led byDimitrios Gounaris. The antagonism between the two parties, and the supporters of monarchy and republicanism, would dominate the political landscape until after the Second World War.
TheConstitution of 1952[8] brought stability in the 1950s since the political institutions of Greece had been significantly weakened by theMetaxas' dictatorship (1936–1941), followed by the devastation ofAxis occupation of Greece (1941–1945) and by theGreek civil war (1946–1949). However, the king maintained considerable powers, such as dissolving the government and parliament and calling new elections. Moreover, article 31 stated that the king hires and fires ministers (Greek:Ο βασιλεύς διορίζει και παύει τους υπουργούς αυτού). This created confusion as the prime minister was chosen by popular election, but the elected prime minister could not select the government's ministers without the king's approval. Two prime ministers in the 1950s had raised the question as to who governs the state, the king or the prime minister,[9] echoing the disagreements betweenEleftherios Venizelos andConstantine I during theNational Schism.
Georgios Papandreou and his political party,Center Union, having a moderate reformist platform, gained considerable traction and rose to power inelections of 1963 and later inelections of 1964.[10][11] However, seeds of resentment towards Papandreou from the military grew as they were excluded from salary increases.[12] He also made a faint attempt to gain control of the military, which alarmed many officers without weakening them.[13][14] The latter created friction with theKing Constantine II, who wanted to be in command of the army and not the elected government.[15] In the meantime, the son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas Papandreou, who had joined Greek politics after 23 years in the United States as a prominent academic,[16] was campaigning by having fierce anti-monarchy and anti-American rhetoric, destabilizing the fragile political equilibrium.[17][18] Andreas Papandreou's militant and uncompromising stance made him a target ofconspiratorial accusations from ultra-rightists who feared that following any new elections, which the nearly 80-year-old Georgios Papandreou would likely win, his son would be the actual focus of power in the party.[19] These incidents caused a dispute between Georgios Papandreou and King Constantine II, leading to the resignation of the former.[20] The king, potentially acting within his constitutional rights but politically dubious approach,[20] tried to bring members of the Center Union party to his side and form a government, leading toIouliana of 1965.[21] To end thepolitical deadlock, Georgios Papandreou attempted a more moderate approach with the king, but Andreas Papandreou publicly rejected his father's effort and attacked the whole establishment, attracting the support of 41 members of the Center Union in an effort designed to gain the party's leadership and preventing any compromise.[17] The prolonged political instability between the politicians and the king in finding a solution led a group ofColonels to intervene and rule Greece for seven years.
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With the return of civilian rule underConstantine Karamanlis, the new government, acting under extraordinary circumstances, issued a "Constituting Act" which voided the 1973 constitution. Pending a referendum on a new constitution, the 1952 constitution was temporarily restored, "except for the articles dealing with the form of the State"; the last phrase referred to whether the monarchy would be restored or not. In the meantime, the functions of the king were to be discharged by the incumbentPresident of the RepublicGeneral Phaedon Gizikis who was appointed by the Ioannides' short-lived regime as a nominal figurehead.
The matter was settled byplebiscite on 8 December 1974, by which the monarchy was definitively abolished. A newConstitution, adopted by Parliament and promulgated on 11 June 1975,[22] established aparliamentary democracy with a president as head of state. Karamanlis reinforced the executive branch's power, represented by the prime minister, while thepresident would act as the head of state with sufficientreserve powers, the right to call elections, appoint a government, dissolve Parliament, and call referendums on important national questions. Moreover, the president couldveto any legislation that did not reflect the popular will that could only be overcome with three fifth parliamentary majority.[23][24] The presidential powers, which overall exceeded those of the monarch under the 1952 Constitution, were drawn inspiration from the recentGaullism reforms in theFrance where Karamanlis spent time (1963–1974).[23]
Papandreou triggered aconstitutional crisis to revise the constitution in 1985 to increase the powers of the prime minister by removing the reserve powers of the president, which were acting aschecks and balances; effectively turning the prime minister into a "parliamentarian autocrat."[25][26] Papandreou'sconstitutional proposals took effect in 1986.[27] Greek constitutional reformers commonly include in their proposals the return of some prerogatives taken back to the president to reducemajoritarian politics, i.e., 'winner takes all,' while avoiding conflicts between the president and prime minister in the executive branch.[28]
The Constitution was amended again in 2001, 2008, and 2019 and is in force today.
The Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic (PM) is the President of the Government, presides over the Council of Ministers and is the second-in-class state institution following the President of the Republic.
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