Politics in Greece

The conventional short form for the country's name is Greece (Hellas or Ellada). Its conventional official name is Hellenic Republic (Elliniki Dimocratia). The capital is Athens.

Since the Constitution was signed in 1975 after the military junta of 1967-1975 and a referendum which rejected the monarchy, the newly built democratic Greek system is a parliamentary republic with the President of the Greek Republic as the head of the state, appointed by the legislative power.

The head of the Government today (since July 2019) and Prime Minister of Greece is Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while the President of the Hellenic Republic (since 2020) is Katerina Sakellaropoulou (the first woman in this position). The previous Prime Minister was Alexis Tsipras.

You will find below general information about politics in Greece, the organization of the state and the Greek political system.

Organization and political tensions

Information about the political organization of the state of Greece, the legislative power and judicial power and also information about the political tensions.

Political Organization

The President of the Hellenic Republic is the chief of the state. He is elected by the Parliament for five years and his service can be renewed for another five years. He appoints the prime minister. The Cabinet is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister.

The legislative power is held by the Parliament, called "Vouli ton Ellinon". The Parliament has 300 seats and its members are elected every four years with elections. Voting is compulsory for citizens older than 18 years.

The judicial power is organized as followed: Supreme Judicial Court and Special Supreme Tribunal are formed by judges appointed for life by the president after he has consulted a judicial council. The legal system is based on codified Roman law and is judiciary divided into civil, criminal and administrative courts.

Major Political Tension

Concerning the international political disputes, the major problem of Greece is the relations with Turkey. In fact, territorial, maritime complex and air disputes are very frequent. The Cyprus Issue does not ameliorate the situation. The other big international dispute is with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a dispute that concerns the name of Macedonia.

Greece is part of many International organizations, such as NATO (since 1952) and the EU (since 1981).

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