A “bold and daring Constitutional Reform” is what Kyriakos Mitsotakis‘ government aims to accomplish, attempting to boost its reformist profile and enrich political dialogue with new, major issues. It also seeks to show the limits of consensus with opposition parties and force them to articulate clear positions on issues such as public sector evaluation, the establishment of private universities, and more.
Mitsotakis’ message to other parties ahead of Constitutional Reform
In his television interview Monday on SKAI, Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke of an “opportunity to move away from the harsh field of hard partisan confrontation” and for parties “to position themselves on the substance of the provisions.” Essentially declaring the start of the process (formally this will happen in April), Kyriakos Mitsotakis called through his televised message for the political system as a whole to dare make “major cuts that will strengthen institutional prestige and citizen trust, introducing regulations for better governance functioning against the great challenges of our time and keeping pace with new realities, such as artificial intelligence and climate crisis.”
In parallel, through his letter -in his capacity as president of New Democracy- to the governing party’s MPs, he calls on them to send their own proposals by the end of February, in order to co-shape ND’s final proposal and follow up with consultation with other parties. Moreover, any article to be revised requires votes from at least 180 MPs either in the current Parliament vote, which is the proposing one, or in the next Parliament, whichever emerges from the 2027 national elections.
The 6 articles to be put on the Constitutional Reform table by the government
Cumulatively, the articles to be put on the Constitutional Reform discussion table are expected to be more than half of the Constitution, which numbers 120. However, the key articles the government wants to revise are the following six (note: in quotes the specific paragraph of each article it seeks to change):
Article 16: “Higher education is provided exclusively by institutions that constitute public law legal entities with full self-governance.” Revision of this specific article has been a long-standing position of New Democracy for decades, with Mr. Mitsotakis speaking in Monday’s statement about “lifting the anachronistic monopoly in tertiary education with the establishment of non-state universities as well.”
Article 30: “The President of the Republic is elected by Parliament for a period of five years […] Re-election of the same person is permitted only once.” The Maximos Mansion estimates that the institution must be protected more effectively and kept away from partisan purposes, which is why the majority’s recommendation will be for the term to be six years and non-renewable.
Article 79: “Parliament in its regular annual session votes the budget of state revenues and expenditures for the following year.” No paragraph in this article will change, but one will be added providing for a balanced budget. Constitutional Reform “must, by all means, also provide safeguards that will guarantee permanent fiscal balance, consistent governmental action, but also the correctness of party promises, so that the country never again slides into the dangerous paths of populism,” the prime minister noted, without yet clarifying what the exact provision of the revised Constitution will be.
Article 86: “Only Parliament has the authority to prosecute those who serve or have served as government members or deputy ministers for criminal offenses committed during the exercise of their duties.” The article will not be abolished, but Parliament’s role will be limited, giving more space to the Judiciary. “It is known that I deeply believe in more decisive participation of regular judges in cases of possible criminal liability of ministers while they exercise their duties. I have been defending the change of Article 86 for 20 years,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted in his televised message.
Article 90: “Promotions to positions of president and vice-president of the Council of State, the Supreme Court and the Court of Audit are carried out by Presidential Decree issued after proposal by the Council of Ministers, with selection among members of the respective supreme court.” The change in the way leadership of the country’s three supreme courts is appointed is an issue that has periodically occupied public dialogue. The prime minister spoke of “more substantial participation by the judges themselves in selecting the leadership of supreme courts, an additional safeguard for Judiciary independence.”
Article 103: “Public employees who hold organic positions are permanent as long as these positions exist.” The lifting of tenure and its connection to evaluation will perhaps be one of the most controversial topics to be raised in public and parliamentary dialogue. Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized that “a friendly and effective public administration must now have continuous evaluation as its driving force and place the concept of tenure on a completely new basis.” As government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis explained, “we are moving toward a logic of evaluating effectiveness, consistency, and not necessarily to reach dismissal, but even reward.”
