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Government in Greece is a parliamentary democracy with a constitution adopted in 1975 (although it has been much amended since then).
Legislative authority rests with a unicameral parliament of 300members elected for terms of four years. Executive power is vested in the Prime Minister and cabinet. The president of the republic, who has a largely ceremonial role and limited powers usually related with the upholding of the Constitution, is elected by the parliament for five years.
After the second world war, a cruel and bloody civil war followed from 1946 to 1949, between the nationalists and the communists. The communists lost and from 1949 to 1963 the nationalists usually of a ‘right-conservative’ ideology held the power in every level of government and institutions.
The elections of 1963, were won by the ‘Centre Union’ (Enosi Kentrou), the first time after the war that a non-conservative party had the chance to form the government. However meddling from conservative forces and the Palace (Greece had a monarch until 1968) forced the government out of power and after a period of political instability, three colonels from the Greek Army, took the power in a coup-d’etat in April 1967 and formed a junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.
The military rule was by all accounts a dark period for Greece, with no democracy, human rights violation, cronyism, and poor economic performance. The junta finally collapsed with the tragedy of Turkish invasion in Cyprus.
In 1974 the junta decided to hand back power to civilian rule.
A new constitution was adopted in 1975. Before then, a referendum on the return of the king who tried to stage a ‘counter’ coup in 1968, but failed and then fled to exile, voted for the abolition of the monarchy, clearing the way for the current parliamentary system.
From 1975 onwards, democracy developed in a stable manner. The Communist Party was legalised in 1975. Greece entered the European Union in 1981 ( then known as the European Community), and later that year the first smooth transition in power occurred from the conservative New Democracy to the socialist PASOK.
New Democracy and PASOK have alternated in power since then.
In the current parliament two small left wing parties are represented other than New Democracy and PASOK. These are the Communist Party of Greece (unreformed Communists) and the Coalition of Radical Left (of a European Left calibration).
The above account has tried to be as neutral and as uncontroversial as possible, providing an introduction to recent political history of Greece to a novice on the subject. As usual, recent political history of every country can be seen from many different points of view.
Αυγούστου 13, 2007 at 1:20 pm | English please! | No comment
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