Greek parliament approves constitutional revision in second vote, but final adoption remains uncertain

The Greek Parliament on Wednesday, in the second vote, approved the constitutional revision project proposed by the governing New Democracy party. As in the first vote in July, the amendments won an absolute majority of deputies, but failed to secure the qualified majority of 180 votes required for several of the proposed provisions, making their final adoption more difficult.

Under the procedure provided by Article 110 of the Constitution, the current Parliament determines which proposals will be considered, while the formulation and adoption of the concrete provisions is done by the next Parliament. This means the constitutional revision begun now will be finalized after the next parliamentary elections.

The majority rules are decisive for the fate of the amendments: if the proposals win the absolute majority — more than 150 votes in the 300-member legislature — the next Parliament will have to approve them with a three-fifths majority, i.e., 180 votes. Only if the current Parliament approves the proposals with 180 votes will the next Parliament approve them with the absolute majority of 151 votes.

The fact that Wednesday’s amendments did not reach the 180-vote threshold means their path to final adoption is visibly more difficult, as it will require broader consensus in the next legislature.

Source: ConstitutionNet