It is clear that the government is looking for an opportunity to distract public opinion away from the painful measures that it voted, in compliance with the new bailout it signed. The most suitable distraction, based on the way they address the problems, is to discuss institutional changes. So they chose a symbolic day, such as the 24th of July, to present their proposals for a constitutional review and change in electoral law.
Before they even announced their proposals though, the government has managed to undermine the process. The government spokesperson’s statement that it is likely to introduce the constitutional review proposals via a referendum, and have the people decide, caused the justifiable anger from the opposition. First of all because the Constitution provides only two specific types of referendums, neither of which cover constitutional reviews. Secondly, as explained by Mr. Venizelos, consultation with society and the parties cannot replace the role of the revisory parliament, which carries out the review with an increased majority and with the electorate’s explicit mandate.
The current government majority has troubled the democratic institutions enough with its actions and omissions. It has been demonstrated in the past that when institutional changes are carried out based on opportunistic policies and political interests, then they are quickly proven to be ineffective and problematic, often going against the intensions of those who inspired them.
The necessary change to the electoral law, which does not reflect the current circumstances that demand coalition governments, cannot be turned into yet another battleground for the government to cover the problems it faces. More so anti-democratic and anti-constitutional scheming are unacceptable in reviewing country’s institutions. We have paid dearly for the games with referendums to cover for SYRIZA’s turns. We do not need to ridicule the Constitution too…
TO VIMA
