Niki Kerameus

The socialist opposition party PASOK reacted on Friday to the scandal involving the unauthorized release of official voter registration data from the Interior Ministry, while calling for Minister Niki Kerameus to be held accountable for the breach.

The Ministry of the Interior is planning to carry out an internal inquiry to ascertain whether there has been a breach of privacy laws that allowed a candidate for the ruling conservative party in the upcoming European parliamentary elections to send hundreds of Greeks abroad campaign material to their private email accounts.

An opposition lawmaker on Monday called on Interior Minister Niki Kerameus to take steps that would satisfy a public petition for former transport ministers to be prosecuted for the deadly train crash at Tempe last year.

More than 8,000 Greek citizens living abroad have registered on the platform for postal voting within the first two days of its operation, while there is also great interest from domestic voters.

Registration for the June 9 European Parliament elections must be completed 40 days in advance, by April 29, 2024. 

A last-minute amendment tabled by the Conservative government to extend postal voting rights to expatriates in national elections was rejected by the entire opposition.

A legislation establishing postal vote for the upcoming European elections, as well as national referendums, was voted by the parliament on Wednesday. 

The provision was passed by the 158 MPs of ruling New Democracy party. 

The government and main opposition SYRIZA have clashed in parliament over a bill that would introduce postal voting for Greeks living abroad in both European and national elections.

On Monday Greece introduced a bill that would allow for voting by mail, a long-standing request of diaspora Greeks and a measure that has been applied in almost all modern democracies. Interior Minister Niki Kerameus said the reform will make it easier to exercise the right to vote and will deepen democracy.

Interior Minister Niki Kerameus introduced an amendment to the postal voting bill in parliament on Monday proposing the adoption of postal voting for Greeks living abroad in both European and national elections.  

The announcement was made during the parliamentary debate on the legislation related to postal voting in European elections and referenda. 

Ahead of Monday's submission of a bill instituting the postal vote to Parliament, Interior Minister Niki Kerameus has described the stance of major opposition parties, which have accepted the measure in principle, as a "promising signal for our political system."