Greece: The “300” members of the new Parliament were sworn in by Archbishop Ieronymos
The Parliament that emerged from the polls of May 21, 2023 was sworn in before the President of the Republic, Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Yesterday, however, after the election of the board of the body, it is expected to be dissolved by Presidential Decree, after establishing the impossibility of forming an independent government or a government of cooperation, and the announcement of new elections on June 25, 2023 with the enhanced proportional system.
It is noted that during the recent elections, which were held with the simple proportional system, five parties entered the Parliament, surpassing the relative “threshold” of 3%. ND with 40.79% which saw 146 MPs elected, SYRIZA-PS with 20.07% and 71 MPs elected, PASOK-Change Movement with 11.46% and 41 MPs elected, KKE with 7.23% and 26 MPs elected, and the Hellenic Solution, with 4.45% and 16 MPs elected.
This is the second “fleeting” Parliament in the post-war history of the country, after the also two-day Parliament, which resulted from the polls of May 6, 2012.
The celebratory first meeting of the 19th Period of the Presiding Parliamentary Democracy began with an agiasmos blessing service performed by His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece. Afterwards, the ministers took the oath prescribed by the Constitution, according to the type of religion of each minister or political oath.
Archbishop Ieronymos: “May you all be the bearers fruit, with courage and strength”
My prayer for you all is taken from the words of the Apostle: “Do not be fruitless” but fruitful, said His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos after the agiasmos service and continued: “May you all be the bearer of fruit, with courage and strength, as today’s circumstances demand!”
After their swearing-in, the MPs signed the relevant swearing-in protocol and received an information folder that included – among other things – the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament.
The meeting was chaired by the re-elected Member of Parliament of Athens and the first vice-president of the previous Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, who announced to the body which parliamentary seats the party leaders had chosen: The president of ND Kyriakos Mitsotakis the seat of A’ Thessaloniki, the president of SYRIZA-PS Alexis Tsipras in A’ Piraeus, the president of PASOK-Movement for Change Nikos Androulakis in A’ Thessaloniki, the secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas the seat of Fthiotida, and the president of Hellenic Solution Kyriakos Velopoulos the seat of Larissa.
