The Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic (PM) is the President of the Government, presides over the Council of Ministers and is the second-in-class state institution following the President of the Republic. The Prime Minister guarantees the unity of the Government and directs its actions along with the public services that implement government policy within the framework of the Constitution and the law. As the Head of the Government, he/she exercises executive power by identifying government policy within the framework of Cabinet decisions and coordinates its implementation.
Responsibilities
The Prime Minister heads the Government and chairs the Cabinet as well as special collective governmental bodies, including the Governmental Council for Foreign Policy and Defense (KYSEA).
The Prime Minister proposes the appointment and termination of service of the the members of the Cabinet, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, together with who he carries out the country’s foreign, defense, economic, social and domestic policies. By decision, he/she assigns responsibilities to Ministers and Deputies without a portfolio. By joint decision with the Minister responsible, he/she assigns responsibility to Deputy Ministers. In addition, the PM oversees and evaluates the work of members of the Government and supervises the implementation of laws by public sector agencies and their operation in the interest of the State and its citizens.
The Prime Minister may propose the passage of draft laws to the Parliament and ask for a vote of confidence.
The Prime Minister represents the Government abroad, in contact with leaders and diplomats of other states, in international organizations, and at the European Council, the meeting of the leaders of the member states of the European Union.
Appointment
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic to the leader of the party that holds the absolute majority of the seats or who is nominated by an alliance of parliamentary parties with a majority in the House of Hellenes.
If no party collects the absolute majority then the President of the Republic gives an exploratory mandate to form a coalition government to the Party Leader holding the relative majority. If he / she fails to obtain the required absolute majority in parliament, the President of the Republic issues an investigative mandate to the leader of the second party in parliamentary order and, if he/she fails too, then to the leader of the third party and so on. Each order is valid for three days.
If none of the investigative mandates succeed, then all heads of parliamentary parties are called upon by the President of the Republic to exhaust any possibility of forming a “universal” government.
Although this process does not ensure the formation of a government, the President of the Republic seeks to form an electoral government from all the parties of the House and in the event of failure, he assigns the formation of an electoral government as broadly as possible to one of the Presidents of the Supreme Courts , With the task of leading the country to hold new parliamentary elections.
