They are crossing swords in Parliament at this very moment, government and opposition, in the debate on Greece-France defence agreement. The agreement has already caused a major controversy between the government and the SYRIZA.
The procedure
Institutionally, today's plenary session of the Parliament will be a mixture of the procedure for holding a pre-agenda debate at the level of heads of state and the procedure foreseen for the ratification of international conventions. According to the briefing provided to the parliamentary editors by the Speaker of the Parliament, Costas Tasoulas, the roll call vote to be held this afternoon is required by Article 27 of the Constitution, which requires the establishment of an absolute majority for conventions that provide for the passage of troops through Greek territory. It should be noted that at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the House of Representatives, the New Republic, the KIN.AL and the Hellenic Solution declared that they will vote in favour of the agreement. SYRIZA has set specific conditions for voting for the agreement which have not been fulfilled and is therefore expected to vote against it, while KKE and Mera 25 have come out against it.
The political leaders will take the floor in accordance with Rule 143 of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament. That is, there will be first speeches, second speeches and the Prime Minister's tripartite speech. In addition, by decision of the Conference of Presidents of the Parliament, the rapporteurs of the parties and a limited number of MPs from each party will take a position on the agreement on a pro rata basis.
The political debate
The positions of the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition have already set the tone for the debate on the Greece-France agreement.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already taken care since yesterday to criticize SYRIZA for the stance it will take. In his statements from Slovenia, where he participated in the EU Summit, he pointed out that «we will have the opportunity in Parliament to discuss this historic agreement in detail. And of course everyone will take a stand and face their responsibilities, because in a historic Agreement the responsibilities of those who will be called upon to vote «yes» or «no» to an Agreement which has a truly national dimension are also historic. He added that »I regret that, unfortunately, some people cannot see beyond party blinders the real national interest of the country«. This is expected to be the heart of his speech today, focusing on the attitude of the opposition. The prime minister is expected to talk at length about the benefits of the agreement both on a geopolitical and purely military level, since the agreement includes the purchase of French frigates for the navy as well as the additional purchase of fighter aircraft for the air force.
Similarly, Alexis Tsipras has asked the government in good time to take precautions in order to cover two points of the agreement that, according to SYRIZA, constitute significant deficiencies. The first concerns France's defence assistance, for which the opposition has pointed out that it should have been explicitly provided for in cases of violation of the Greek EEZ and continental shelf. SYRIZA has called for an explicit warning from the Macron government. The second concerns the government's commitment that the country will not participate with combat units in operations far from the country's borders, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is mentioned in the text of the agreement. Alexis Tsipras has warned that such commitments distort the foreign policy doctrine followed so far and pose risks for the country at a time when Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise. From Alexis Tsipras' side, there is expected to be a separate reference to the issues concerning transparency in arms contracts. The President of SYRIZA has expressed his strong concern about both the high cost of the arms programmes announced by the government and the way decisions are made.
The other political leaders will also intervene in the debate. The position of Fofi Gennimata and the feeling she will give in her speech about her attitude towards the government is expected with interest. Especially since the rapporteur of the Kin.AL for the agreement when it was discussed in the relevant committee of the House was her co-candidate for the leadership of Kin.AL, Andreas Loverdos.
Also of interest is the position of the Secretary General of the KKE, the party that has been in the centre of interest in recent days, after being politically attacked by the expelled Konstantinos Bogdanos. The KKE's position on the agreement is negative as it sees it as a greater attachment to imperialist pursuits in the region.
On the part of Mera 25, Yannis Varoufakis will probably refer to the financial implications of the arms programmes provided for in the agreement. Especially from the perspective of the strengthening of the public debt.
Watch the debate live from the Parliament.
