The government wants to leave behind the passing of the bill for equality in civil marriage, despite the fact that it caused serious rifts with 1/3 of the blue MPs either abstaining or voting against. Top officials point out that the vote’s outcome was not a foregone conclusion, and they praise the level of dialogue that took place inside and outside the center-right faction, especially on such a sensitive issue. “The goal has been achieved, let’s move on” were the first words of Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the completion of the vote thus setting the tone for the following day, while the comment that “everyone has their own opinion” about what he said critically from the floor of the Parliament former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras shows that he is not in the mood to add fuel to the fire.
The government also stands by the positive impact that the passing of the bill has abroad, as they saw with particular satisfaction the flattering publications of the foreign press, the joint announcement of the diplomatic delegations in our country, and the applause for the prime minister during his visit to Munich, where participated in the Security Conference. “The profile of the country is being upgraded” they say meaningfully from the Maximos Palace. And even if the government were in the mood for a confrontation or further ideological analysis of the matter, the hard everyday life – to be precise, developing into a permanent headache – and the next critical legislations do not leave this kind of leeway.
Crash Test the farmers
The focus is now on the farmers who are preparing a powerful rally on Tuesday (20/2) in Athens. According to the information of Vimas, the farmers and the Ministry of Citizen Protection had all the previous hours an open channel of communication and reached an agreement on the framework of the protest. More specifically, the farmers will descend in a coordinated manner in certain tractors, vehicles and buses without being stopped by the police provided that they do not block major road arteries. The aim is that the farmers can also protest after their demands have not been met and that the normality of the lives of the residents in the capital is not disturbed and that the government does not show that it is in the mood for conflict with them.
In the essence of their demands, the people of the primary sector do not seem to be able to expect anything more than what they already heard during their recent meeting in Maximos. “What we gave, we gave” they still say from the government noting that there are no more fiscal margins. In fact, there is also the assessment that after the rally, the farmers will begin to slowly return to their fields, with them, however, leaving all possibilities open. In the ND it is clear that they do not want the confrontation as they know that it is addressed to an audience favorable to them which is now “boiling”. One of the arguments that the farmers will hear from the party officials in Piraeus in the near future is that if they choose to show their displeasure in the European elections, they will weaken the bargaining power of the government vis-à-vis the new CAP, which is not in their own interest.
Next stop non-state HEIs
The next flagship bill for the government will be the Non-State Universities Bill which has created a stir in higher education. On Monday, the bill will go to the Parliament, and in it the ND is sure to present itself in a solid and coordinated manner. However, she will face the opposition as well as a portion of the students who react mainly fearing the further discrediting of public universities. It is certain that there will also be a question of unconstitutionality with leading constitutionalists arguing about it. The atmosphere is explosive with several Faculties under occupation for some time and student associations warning of even more dynamic demonstrations in all major cities.
At the same time, the bill for the beaches was also submitted to the Parliament which, according to the Ministry of Finance, puts order in public property, free access to the beaches and the carrying out of controls on concessionaires and the imposition of penalties on violators. At the same time, changes are also being promoted in the Judiciary as the debate has already started in the competent committees of the Parliament on the changes to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The passing of these bills and the behavior of ND MPs that will show in practice whether their stance on civil marriage equality was isolated or not. What is certain is that a cycle of legislative “sprint” that the government chose to do at this point in time will be closed so that the party machine can then get to work. And this is because the ND Congress is scheduled for April and the June European elections will follow, in which it will be seen whether these initiatives can cause damage to the ND’s percentages and whether, in the absence of a strong opposition, the citizens will choose to move into the gray zone of abstinence.
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