There is no doubt that the statement of the prime minister quite some time ago that, “When you have the government, it does not mean that you also have the power,” which was later reiterated by ministers and others, has exposed both the PM himself and his government.

It exposes him firstly as a theoretical construct that directly clashes with the functioning of a democracy, which is a system with distinct and separate powers that maintain a balance between themselves and check one another.

But it also exposes one of its applications in practice: a barrage of interventions in the operation of the judiciary, in various ways and at various levels.

The main opposition party, yet another institution of democracy that has a duty to check the power of the executive, counted over 20 major governmental interventions in the judiciary, over the three years that the Syriza-Independent Greeks coalition government is in power.

These interventions begin with statements of criticism and telling judges how to do their job, and go as far as the moral annihilation of judicial functionaries who are not to the government’s liking.

The government is obliged to respond to these heavy accusations made by the opposition party.

It has an institutional duty to citizens to make clear how it views its relationship with the rest of the institutions of democracy.

The government must convince citizens that it is ruling based on the constitutional separation of powers, and not based on undemocratic views expressed by various officials, and others.

Τελευταία Νέα