Greece » Politics

 Political System of Greece

Greece is described as “Presidential Parliamentary Republic” in the constitution of 1975. The politics of Greece is largely parliamentary democratic republic. The Greek Prime minister is the head of the government and the President is the head of state. The Grecian parliament is described as a Hellenic parliament and the main legislative power for the parliament is held by the Prime Minister. The judiciary operates independently from the executive and legislature.

The basic structure of Greek Government resembles with the most of European democracies and it is described as an amalgamation of the French and German systems. The president is elected through presidential elections and is described as a head of state.  He is the commander in chief of the Armed forces and holds the first positions in the Grecian order of Precedence. But this position held by the President is very ceremonial and virtual because the amendment in the constitution in the year 1986 limited the presidential powers.

The Prime minister is appointed by the President. The Greek constitution gives Greek President the right to choose the prime minister from the political party which acquired maximum number of votes from the parliament. However, if no party won the majority, the leading political party is asked to form a government.

The current prime minister of Greece is Giorgos Papandreou.