The establishment of a cross-party committee for agricultural issues is imminent, as Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis confirmed that the proposal made by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the state budget debate has been officially submitted to both the Conference of Presidents and parliamentary correspondents. During the Conference session, the proposal for establishing the cross-party committee was accepted by majority vote, while the Communist Party voted against it. Since there was no unanimous agreement, the final decision on forming the committee will be made in a special plenary session in the coming weeks.
It’s worth noting that the remaining opposition parties reserved their position. The chairman of the cross-party committee will be MP for Phthiotida, Giannis Oikonomou, who comes from a predominantly agricultural region, while the deputy chairman and secretary positions will be filled by MPs from PASOK and SYRIZA respectively. Specifically, the committee will consist of 26 members, with 14 MPs from New Democracy, 3 from PASOK, 2 from SYRIZA and 2 from the Communist Party.
The remaining parties and independents will be represented by one MP each. It should be recalled that during the state budget ratification debate, the Prime Minister emphasized: “I ask you to reconsider from the beginning, together with farmers, the general orientation of the primary sector. We have done a lot for farmers, we can do more. I therefore extend an invitation to opposition parties: a cross-party committee with cross-party leadership, to examine the problems of the primary sector and let’s agree on the necessary changes that will bind future governments as well.”
