Greek Constitution of 1973

The Greek Constitution of 1973 (Greek: Σύνταγμα του 1973) was an amended version of the Greek Constitution of 1968 (which was never fully enacted)) by Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos, with the aim of abolishing the Greek monarchy. Papadopoulos's rewrite of the 1968 constitution replaced the terms "Parliamentary monarchy" and "King" with "Republican democracy" and "President of Greece".^[1] The constitution was never enacted due to Papadopoulos's failed attempt at liberalisation of his regime.

Background

In early 1973, the Papadopoulos regime experienced for the first time organised protests against its dictatorial government. In February 1973,^[2] the Law School student uprising started when law students occupied the Athens Law School protesting against the dictators and was a precursor to the Athens Polytechnic uprising. The public unrest against the regime was followed by an attempted coup against Papadopoulos organised by the Greek Navy.^[1]

The dictators strongly suspected that King Constantine II of Greece, who was already in exile due to an earlier coup attempt against them in December 1967, was also behind the second Navy coup attempt. The dictator used the Navy coup attempt as a pretext to strengthen his position by removing the King, whom he considered his last major, non-junta related, antagonist for power.^[3] A month later, in June 1973, Papadopoulos proceeded to abolish the monarchy and declare Greece a Presidential Republic, simultaneously appointing himself to the new position as Greece's head of state.^[1]

Not wasting any time, the regime proceeded in July of the same year to hold a rigged referendum which ratified the new constitution with 21.56% supporting the monarchy and 78.44% against it.^[1][4] Papadopoulos's attempt at engineering a new political system in Greece ultimately failed and the new constitution was never enacted.^[1]

Analysis

The 1973 constitution is the second constitution in modern Greek history, after its predecessor constitution of 1968, to have resulted from a failed coup attempt by the Greek Navy.^[5] The 1973 constitution contravenes article 137 paragraph 1 of its predecessor 1968 constitution which states "The fundamental provisions of the Constitution as well as those that designate the form of government as a Crowned Democracy can never be revised".^[5] Due to this contravention of article 137 of its predecessor, the 1973 constitution has been characterised as "revolutionary".^[5] The 1973 constitution was replaced by the current Greek constitution in 1975, during the metapolitefsi period.^[4]

Powers of the president

Under the 1973 constitution, the president had the power to nominate and also fire the ministers and vice-ministers of public order, foreign affairs and national defence. This was intended as a nod to the Armed Forces and was designed to assure them that the power was resting with the president of the republic. Article 49 paragraph 2 of the 1973 constitution enabled the president to directly command the armed forces and to also choose the commander-in-chief and commanders of the branches of the armed forces.^[6] The 1973 constitution also gave legislative powers to the president as well as the parliament of Greece.^[7]

References

1. Philippos K. Spyropoulos; Théodore Fortsakis (2009). Constitutional Law in Greece. Kluwer Law International. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-90-411-2878-2.
2. Michel Forsé; International Research Group on the Comparative Charting of Social Change in Advanced Industrial Societies (29 April 1993). Recent Social Trends in France, 1960–1990. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-7735-0887-3.
3. Mogens Pelt (2006). Tying Greece to the West: US-West German-Greek Relations 1949–1974. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 348. ISBN 978-87-7289-583-3.
4. Louis M. Imbeau; Steve Jacob (19 February 2015). Behind a Veil of Ignorance?: Power and Uncertainty in Constitutional Design. Springer. p. 179. ISBN 978-3-319-14953-0.
5. Markesinis, Basil S. (1973). "Reflections on the Greek Constitution". Parliamentary Affairs 27 (1973September): 8-27.
6. Thomas Kyriakis, University of Hamburg. "The two Plebiscites and Constitutions of 1968 and 1973" (PDF).
7. Stephen G. Xydis (Autumn 1974). "Coups and Countercoups in Greece, 1967–1973" (PDF). Political Science Quarterly (The Academy of Political Science). 89 No. 3: 507–538. doi:10.2307/2148452.