“I governed for 4.5–5 years and did not violate a single rule of democracy,” said Alexis Tsipras speaking at the Economic Courier Forum and “responding” to Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

No, he hasn’t forgotten that during his time in government he violated all the rules, written and unwritten. He’s simply banking on collective amnesia. Unfortunately for him, so far, the lobotomy has only worked on the members of his staff.

Because the truth is that Mr. Tsipras is the one who has violated every single rule there is.

First and foremost, the violation of the fundamental law itself—the Constitution—when, that fateful summer of 2015, he proceeded (via a Legislative Act, the very kind he used to denounce) to shorten the timeframe for holding a referendum, limiting it to just five days, while the question itself was vague. This violated both the Constitution and Law 4023/2011, which governs referendums.

There were other, equally egregious violations:

The constant attacks against the judiciary (“institutional obstacle,” “protection of every pimp”), which constituted a gross violation of Article 26 of the Constitution regarding the separation of powers.

We have experienced unprecedented situations! With prosecutors denouncing unconstitutional interventions, threats against judges, allegations of favoritism and “centers of power and corruption,” public statements regarding the handling of certain cases, the interception of personal data, vindictive disciplinary proceedings, pressure on judges to prosecute, and… “let them go ahead and be acquitted”!

And a veritable civil war within the judiciary, which culminated in the Novartis conspiracy, when:

A senior prosecutor sued the then-Deputy Minister of Justice for direct interference in her work, and the president of the Supreme Court was sued for attempted extortion and bribery, the Minister of Justice initiated disciplinary proceedings against a Supreme Court prosecutor and four other senior prosecutors, following a report by another prosecutor, judges filed lawsuits against their colleagues, and so on and so forth…

A Criminal Code with 1,100 articles and… a closed Parliament!

And also:

The appointment of the President of the Supreme Court, following a dive into the yearbook, at… 3 a.m. on June 29, 2015 – leaving the other two supreme courts leaderless, in order to secure the acting prime minister.

The extension of the Parliament’s session by one week, in June 2019, even though elections had been announced, in order to rush through a new Penal Code (with numerous statutes of limitations and reduced sentences).

We are talking about… 1,100 articles, including the reclassification of the core crime of arson from a felony to a misdemeanor (see the tragedy in Mati) and the equating of the leader of a criminal organization with a mere member (see Golden Dawn).

Furthermore, those convicted in the Golden Dawn case were not stripped of their political rights. On this point, SYRIZA justified itself by claiming that due to the announcement of early elections in July 2019, it did not have time to amend the electoral legislation! Everything else, of course, it managed to do!

Thus, in September 2019, we had the first case: The presiding prosecutor of the Three-Member Misdemeanor Court requested the acquittal of the defendants (including Lagos and Michos) in the case of the attack by Golden Dawn members on the “Synergio” community center in Ilioupoli in 2013.

According to the prosecutor, the charge of unprovoked damage to property has been repealed, and the offense should be reclassified as simple damage to property, while the criminal prosecution must be declared inadmissible since the complaint was not filed by the owner of the premises but by the civil plaintiff!

Abolition of Independent Authorities

And furthermore:

In March 2015, the Supervisory Council of Public Television was abolished by an amendment, simultaneously changing the method of selecting its board members, who were now appointed by decision of the Minister of State. Under the previous system, selection took place following an open call for applications by the chair of the Supervisory Council and upon the recommendation of representatives from the ASEP, the NCRTV, and the NSC.

In April 2015, with the law on the so-called “reactivation” of ERT, the autonomy of the Board of Directors was abolished, as was the independence of public television from the state and political parties, since ERT now signs an “Agreement of Principles with the Greek State,” represented by the Ministers of Finance, State, and Culture, Education, and Religious Affairs. At the same time, the Supervisory Board was officially abolished, as were the institution of the Ombudsman and the three-member Ethics Committee. The new Board of Directors was appointed on May 25 following a fast-track call for expressions of interest, during which the call was posted on the afternoon of Thursday, the eve of May Day, and the deadline expired at noon on Monday, just a few hours after a three-day holiday.

On October 24, 2015, during the debate on the licensing of broadcast media (“Licensing of free-to-air digital terrestrial television content providers and other provisions”), the SYRIZA government tabled an amendment —specifically in the form of a technical amendment—providing for the early termination of the terms of office of serving members of the constitutionally mandated independent authorities (National Council for Radio and Television, ASEP, Hellenic Data Protection Authority, Hellenic Authority for the Protection of Communications Privacy, and the Greek Ombudsman).

(Pursuant to Article 101A of the Constitution, the term of office of members of independent authorities cannot be shortened by law; it can only be extended, because otherwise their personal and functional independence is compromised. It is noteworthy that on November 5, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority, in its Opinion No. 5/2015, deemed unconstitutional and contrary to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union the provision of Law 4339/2015 according to which “members of independent Authorities whose initial term of office has expired shall automatically cease to hold office.” Furthermore, the Authority noted that, in accordance with the constitutional principle of the continuous operation of independent Authorities and Law 4055/2012, the term of office of members of independent authorities is automatically extended until new members are appointed. Consequently, the opinion concluded, the Authority continues to operate lawfully with its current composition.

Yet another violation of the Constitution…

Evangelos Venizelos’s article

He had already said as much in an article in “To Vima tis Kyriakis” in November 2015, Evangelos Venizelos, under the title “The Institutional Downhill Slope.”

I am quoting it verbatim, because lately many people seem to be losing their memory…

“The resounding refutation of anti-memorandum demagoguery and the government’s early crisis of legitimacy due to a radical shift in economic policy have multiple moral, institutional, and aesthetic implications. The government has acquired not only nationalist-populist but also authoritarian characteristics. It is governed by an instrumental conception of institutions that is often expressed in an undisguised and cynical manner. In 2015, the issue of democracy and the rule of law is being raised. Not to implement a “left-wing” or even “radical” policy, but to consolidate the power of a closed group of individuals who guide the government and the SYRIZA / ANEL government majority, with the collaboration of obscure coalition partners.

– Parliamentary procedures are being trivialized. Under the pretext of memorandum obligations, twelve different emergency decrees—that is, twelve different substantive laws—are now being introduced for ratification in a single bill!

– The government feels comfortable speaking on behalf of the judiciary and preemptively announcing its actions. Public officials are being replaced due to the initiation of preannounced criminal prosecutions.

– The internal independence of the judiciary is being severely undermined. Disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors holding key positions are being initiated, revoked, or threatened. The selection of the leadership of the supreme courts takes place at the Supreme Court in June, two days before the positions become vacant, while at the Council of State and the Court of Appeals, it occurs with a four-month delay.

– The independent authorities provided for by the Constitution are being abolished by law without the requirement that their members be replaced simultaneously!

– The head of the Internal Affairs Service of the Hellenic Police is being replaced amid vague statements and insinuations regarding the effectiveness of his department, which had been praised for its efficiency by the relevant minister just a few weeks earlier.

– Former minister submits, at the government’s urging, evidence to the prosecuting authorities regarding the possible commission of particularly serious crimes, and the Ministers of Justice and Public Order file a criminal complaint seeking the prosecution not of those who mayinvolved in the acts that have come to light, but of those who made the evidence available to the judiciary and the media that informed the public about it!”.

Signed: Evangelos Venizelos, former minister.

I don’t think I need to add anything else…

Just to remind you that for Mr. Tsipras, the lies never end. Especially when he returns as a wolf in sheep’s clothing…

*The article was published on liberal.gr