Pappas

Greek Minister of State Nikos Pappas, who authored the TV license law revoked by the Council of State, released a statement calling for the political parties to tone down the disagreements and move toward achieving wider consent on the matter of the new National Council of Radio and Television (NCRTV).

Major opposition party New Democracy (ND) called on the government to refrain from using “publicity tricks”, following rumours leaked by officials that the government was considering replacing the head of the National Council of Radio and Television (NCRTV) with a figure ND could not object to.

Government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili said in the wake of a Council of State verdict deeming a recent TV license auction unconstitutional, that "nothing will stand in the way of the government's determination to bring some order to the radio and television landscape."

A verdict by the country's highest administrative court on Wednesday night overturning a recent tender of broadcasting licenses is a "dire political defeat" for the leftist-led government, opposition New Democracy said on Thursday.

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, 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.

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.