United States Constitution

Article 3 of the Greek Constitution, regarding relations between church and state, will not be subject to revision by the next Parliament, following a vote by lawmakers earlier Thursday.

MPs were on Thursday voting on which articles of the Constitution will be revised by the House that will be sworn in after this year's elections.

With the government trailing behind main opposition New Democracy in all opinion polls, despite a barrage of pledges and social benefits, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is attempting to divert attention from the highly unpopular Prespa Agreement to other issues, such as the planned revision of the Greek Constitution by the next parliament.

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged lawmakers to support the review of the Greek Constitution's Article 16, which prohibits the establishment of private universities.

Greek lawmakers will debate the proposals on the revision of Greece's Constitution on February 12 and 13, House President Nikos Voutsis said on Tuesday, after receiving the report by the constitutional revision committee, the body responsible for examining the legislation.

This will give enough time to MPs and party rapporteurs to discuss the plan, he said.

The Greek Parliament's Constitutional Revision Committee, the body responsible for examining the government's proposed amendments to the Constitution, completed its work on Wednesday night, voting on the entirety of the proposals submitted by Greece's political parties and lawmakers.

The result of the vote, which is not binding for lawmakers, will now be discussed at the plenary.

Greece's conservative opposition on Tuesday criticized the government for failing to submit in Parliament an official translation of the constitution of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) following the recent amendments in line with the so-called Prespes deal.

The name deal signed between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in June stipulates that Athens will launch the process to ratify the agreement only after Skopje has completed its part of the process. Skopje must first notify Athens that its lawmakers have endorsed the deal (Article 1.4.b).

Leading academics from local and foreign institutions have signed an open letter urging Greece's leftist-led government to green-light the review of the Greek Constitution's Article 16, which prohibits the establishment of private universities, describing the matter as a question of democratic principles. 

The Greek Parliament decided on Wednesday that the Constitutional Revision Committee, the body responsible for examining the government's proposed amendments to the Constitution, will deliver its report on January 15.

The government submitted the draft constitutional amendments to parliament on Friday, launching the second of the three phases in the process to adopt the 'name' agreement that would unblock the country's path towards NATO and EU membership.

Тhe first draft amendment envisages the addition of the adjective 'North' to the name of the country, as stipulated in the 'name' agreement.