Leader of the Official Opposition (Greece)

The Leader of the Official Opposition (Greek: Αρχηγός της Αξιωματικής Αντιπολίτευσης) is the politician who leads the biggest opposition party in Greece.

Leader of the Official Opposition of Greece
Αρχηγός της Αξιωματικής Αντιπολίτευσης
Coat of Arms of Greece
since 21 November 2024
Member of

Today Leader of the Official Opposition is the President of the parliamentary group of PASOK - Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis.[1]

Role

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According to the Rules of the Hellenic Parliament: "The President of the largest Parliamentary Group, who is not a member of the Government, is called the Leader of the Official Opposition, an office which gives him/her special rights (e.g. more speaking time during parliamentary sittings). (...) The leader of the party is also considered the President of the Parliamentary Group if he/she has been elected as a Member of Parliament." [2]

The leader of the official opposition is regarded as the fourth highest state office of the Hellenic Republic, after the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament.
In addition, the leader of the opposition has certain minor privileges at the stage of the parliamentary procedure, including the ability to request two debates before the agenda, a longer speaking time and the right to appoint up to three deputy representatives at meetings, the same as the Prime Minister.[3]

Stefanos Kasselakis was the president of Syriza for the period September 2023 - September 2024, without being a member of parliament. This peculiarity, which is unprecedented in the history of Greek parliamentarianism, has sparked a debate on who is now considered to be the leader of the opposition. According to constitutional expert Charalambos Tsiliotis, the leader of the official opposition should be the president of SYRIZA parliamentary group, currently the party's MP Nikos Pappas. [4]
However, the prevailing practice is to refer to Stefanos Kasselakis as the leader of the official opposition. [5][6] Αfter all, in Parliament he had the privileges of the leader of the official opposition: free access to Parliament and the official office of the leader of the opposition, secretaries, the right to have officials seconded to him, official cars, police protection, etc. Following his dismissal as president of SYRIZA on 12 September 2024, his privileges were revoked. [7]

Change Opposition Leader without elections

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The crisis that erupted in Syriza in the autumn of 2024 due to the expulsion of the elected President Stefanos Kaselakis from the party's organs and the subsequent rupture between the two sides led to the independence of MPs, resulting in the party losing the role of the official opposition, remaining second with 29 MPs behind Pasok (31 MPs), which was officially declared the official opposition on 21 November 2024.[1] The President of the Parliament noted that this phenomenon - a change in the leader of the opposition without elections is unprecedented in the Greek parliamentary history.[8]

Pasok returns as an opposition leader party after 15 years. [9]

List of leaders of the opposition since 1974

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Political party:   EK–ND / EDIK   PASOK   ND   Syriza   PASOK – KINAL

Portrait Name Political party Term of office
  Georgios Mavros EK–ND
in 1976 merged into
EDIK
21 November 1974 28 November 1977
  Andreas Papandreou PASOK 28 November 1977 21 October 1981
  Georgios Rallis New Democracy 21 October 1981 December 1981
  Evangelos Averoff 9 December 1981 1 September 1984
  Konstantinos Mitsotakis 1 September 1984 2 July 1989
  Andreas Papandreou PASOK 2 July 1989 12 October 1989
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Grivas 12 October 1989 23 November 1989
None – Ecumenical Government of Xenophon Zolotas 23 November 1989 11 April 1990
  Andreas Papandreou PASOK 11 April 1990 13 October 1993
  Konstantinos Mitsotakis New Democracy 13 October 1993 3 November 1993
  Miltiadis Evert 3 November 1993 21 March 1997
  Kostas Karamanlis 21 March 1997 10 March 2004
  George Papandreou PASOK 10 March 2004 6 October 2009
  Kostas Karamanlis New Democracy 6 October 2009 30 November 2009
  Antonis Samaras 30 November 2009 16 May 2012
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos 16 May 2012 20 June 2012
  Alexis Tsipras Syriza 20 June 2012 26 January 2015
  Antonis Samaras New Democracy 26 January 2015 5 July 2015
  Vangelis Meimarakis
Acting
5 July 2015 27 August 2015
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou 27 August 2015 21 September 2015
  Vangelis Meimarakis
Acting
New Democracy 21 September 2015 24 November 2015
  Ioannis Plakiotakis
Acting
24 November 2015 11 January 2016
  Kyriakos Mitsotakis 11 January 2016 8 July 2019
  Alexis Tsipras Syriza 8 July 2019 25 May 2023
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Sarmas 25 May 2023 26 June 2023
  Alexis Tsipras Syriza 26 June 2023 29 June 2023
  Sokratis Famellos (de jure) 3 July 2023 27 August 2024
  Nikos Pappas (de jure) 27 August 2024 21 November 2024
  Nikos Androulakis PASOK – Movement for Change 21 November 2024 Incumbent

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ανεξαρτητοποιήθηκαν Θεοδώρα Τζάκρη και Γιώτα Πούλου από τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ - Αξιωματική αντιπολίτευση το ΠΑΣΟΚ". NewsIT (in Greek). 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  2. ^ https://www.hellenicparliament.gr/Organosi-kai-Leitourgia/Koinovouleftikes-Omades/
  3. ^ Γιώργος Μπουρδάρας (24 August 2024). "Τα «προνόμια» της αξιωματικής αντιπολίτευσης" [The "privileges" of the opposition]. www.kathimerini.g.
  4. ^ Χαράλαμπος Τσιλιώτης (26 September 2023). "Μπορεί να είναι ο κ. Κασσελάκης Αρχηγός της Αξιωματικής Αντιπολίτευσης;" [Can Mr. Kasselakis be the Leader of the Opposition?]. www.syntagmawatch.gr. Syntagma Watch.
  5. ^ The Leader of the Official Opposition Mr. Stefanos Kasselakis visited the P.M.S. of E.K.P.A. "Politics and Internet"
  6. ^ Response of the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy to statements by the Leader of the Opposition Stefanos Kasselakis (23.4.2024)
  7. ^ Ελένη Γκρήγκοβιτς (23 September 2024). "ΣΥΡΙΖΑ: «Έκπτωτος» ο Κασσελάκης και στη Βουλή – Τι αλλάζει στα προνόμια του" [SYRIZA: "Fallen" Kasselakis and in Parliament - What changes in his privileges]. tovima.gr. To Vima.
  8. ^ Mr Tasoulas on SYRIZA: "It is sad... For the first time the electorate's vote is not valid" (el)
  9. ^ What Greece was like the last time PASOK was in opposition (ελ)
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