Nikos Pappas

State Minister Nikos Pappas on Thursday morning defended a law auctioning television licenses to the highest bidder, after the Council of State deemed the process unconstitutional.

The bombshell ruling by Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court, the Council of State (CoS), against the constitutionality of the TV law passed by the Greek government portents serious developments in the domestic political system, with opposition parties calling for early elections and the government harshly criticising the court’s decision.

The Council of State ruled on Wednesday that the law on which the government auction for the television licenses was based contravenes Greece's Constitution.

The Council of State's plenary session was convening late into Wednesday night to rule on the constitutionality of a recent government auction of television licenses which reduced the number of permits to four.

The Council of State (CoS), Greece’s Supreme Court on administrative matters, is scheduled to convene in plenum, Wednesday, to decide on whether the TV licensing procedures passed by the ruling SYRIZA government contravened the Greek constitution.

Commenting on the TV licences to radio station Praktorio 104.9 FM, State Minister Nikos Pappas on Tuesday said: “We are awaiting the decisions. Meanwhile, we are moving ahead according as planned. The tender has been completed, and it has brought a larger than expected sum to the state revenues.

The Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, is to convene on Monday and on Wednesday to discuss the constitutionality of a controversial government auction of television licenses, amid growing concerns in the ranks of the coalition over the possible repercussions of the final ruling.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greece’s major opposition party New Democracy (ND), underlined that the country was slipping into “an unprecedented institutional degeneration”, during his speech in parliament over the TV licences and the Supreme Court’s ruling on the case that effectively suspended the enactment of the law until its constitutionality was decided upon in a new meeting

Greek Minister of State, Nikos Pappas, said that if the TV license law was ruled anti-constitutional by the country’s Supreme Court (CoS), the media landscape would return to its pervious state of television stations operating without licenses.

A day after the Council of State upheld appeals lodged by six TV channels against a government auction of broadcasting permits, State Minister Nikos Pappas said Greece's left-led administration would not yield to pressure coming from "vested interests."