The State Council’s ruling on the infamous television licensing law is a slap in the face for the government and strong message in support of the Constitution and Democracy. The State Council assembly found the government bill to conflict with the constitution.
The Supreme Court judges deemed that taking the power of licensing away from the National Council for Radio and Television (ESR) and the domineering restriction of issuing only four licenses conflict with the Constitution. The government’s attempt to shut down the television stations backfired.
The warnings from almost the entire legal world, with a few partisan exceptions, the almost universal reactions from the opposition were completely ignored by the arrogant minister and the Prime Minister himself, who offered his full support until two days ago.
This could not have been any differently, since the targeting of the media was a government strategy. After the u-turn on the bailout and last summer’s retreat, they attempted to create a new enemy, which was none other than the media.
They arbitrarily set the number of licenses to 4 in an effort to manipulate the television landscape. They celebrated because they managed to collect 250 million euros after closing the candidate owners in a room for three days. They attempted to blackmail the Supreme Court judges with parastatal methods. And now they are paying the consequences.
The State Council decision is a crushing defeat for the government as a whole, as well as for Mr. Tsipras and his prime partner. It is a victory for Democracy, the independence of Justice and of course freedom of expression. It is yet another lesson against the arrogance of power, authority and institutional aberrations. The Prime Minister claimed to support every word in the Constitution, now it is time to implement this, even if it took a court order.
TO VIMA
