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Leader of the Opposition (Greece)

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Leader of the Official Opposition of Sokratis Famellos
Αρχηγός της Αξιωματικής Αντιπολίτευσης
Coat of Arms of Greece
Incumbent
Socrates Famellos
since 3 July 2023
Member of
AppointerLargest political party in parliament that is not in government
Term lengthWhile leader of the largest political party in parliament that is not in government
Inaugural holderYannis Makriyannis
Formation16 December 1843
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The Leader of the Official Opposition (Greek: Αρχηγός της Αξιωματικής Αντιπολίτευσης) is the politician who leads the official Opposition in Greece.

Role

The Leader of the Opposition is normally the leader of the largest party not within the government, which is usually the second largest political party in the Hellenic Parliament.

One exception to this rule was during the Papademos government, when Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy, despite supporting the new government, retained the position of Leader of the Opposition. According to the Standing Orders of the Hellenic Parliament (Art. 20) "The President of the largest Parliamentary Group which does not participate in the Government, is called Leader of the Opposition and has special rights recognised by the Parliament's Standing Orders and current provisions". Because Samaras wanted to retain this position, no New Democracy MPs joined the Government, since if a single MP had joined the Government as a minister that would have meant that the New Democracy Parliamentary Group participated in the Government. Only non-MPs were allowed to join the Government. In fact, the new Defence Minister, Dimitris Avramopoulos, was forced to resign from his seat in order to satisfy the above provision. Despite protests form the other parties, the Parliament's Speaker decided that there was no violation of Art. 20, since no New Democracy MP participated in the Government.

Following the January 2015 legislative election, Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy, became Leader of the Opposition for a second time.

Samaras resigned as chairman of New Democracy on 5 July 2015, after the overwhelming victory of the "No" vote in the Greek bailout referendum, naming Vangelis Meimarakis as transitional chairman.[1]

List of leaders of the opposition (Kingdom of Greece 1843-1924)

Political party:   Makriyannis faction   English Party   French Party   Russian Party   National Committee   Nationalist Party   New Party   ISC   Dragoumis coalition

Portrait Name Political party Term of office
Yannis Makriyannis Makriyannis faction 16 December 1843 18 August 1844
Alexandros Mavrokordatos English Party 18 August 1844 June 1847
None – Independent MPs June 1847 14 May 1865
Dimitrios Voulgaris French Party 14 May 1865 21 March 1868
Epameinondas Deligiorgis National Committee 21 March 1868 16 May 1869
Alexandros Koumoundouros Russian Party 16 May 1869 25 February 1872
Thrasyvoulos Zaimis English Party 25 February 1872 27 January 1873
Epameinondas Deligiorgis National Committee 27 January 1873 June 1874
Alexandros Koumoundouros Nationalist Party June 1874 18 July 1875
Epameinondas Deligiorgis National Committee 18 July 1875 14 May 1879
Leonidas Deligiorgis National Committee 14 May 1879 23 September 1879
Charilaos Trikoupis New Party 23 September 1879 20 December 1881
Alexandros Koumoundouros Nationalist Party 20 December 1881 26 February 1883
Theodoros Diligiannis Nationalist Party 26 February 1883 7 April 1885
Charilaos Trikoupis New Party 7 April 1885 4 January 1887
Theodoros Diligiannis Nationalist Party 4 January 1887 14 October 1890
Charilaos Trikoupis New Party 14 October 1890 16 April 1895
Dimitrios Rallis Rallis faction 16 April 1895 7 February 1899
Theodoros Diligiannis Nationalist Party 7 February 1899 17 November 1902
Georgios Theotokis New Party 17 November 1902 26 March 1906
Dimitrios Rallis Rallis faction 26 March 1906 21 August 1910
Eleftherios Venizelos ISC 21 August 1910 11 December 1910
Stefanos Dragoumis Dragoumis coalition 11 December 1910 24 March 1912

List of leaders of the opposition (Hellenic Republic 1924-1935)

Political party:   Vacant   Agricultural and Labour Party   Liberal   Freethinkers' Party

Portrait Name Political party Term of office
None – Caretaker or coalition governments 25 March 1924 19 August 1928
Alexandros Papanastasiou Agricultural and Labour Party 19 August 1928 25 September 1932
Eleftherios Venizelos Liberal 19 August 1928 5 March 1933
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Alexandros Othonaios 5 March 1933 10 March 1933
Eleftherios Venizelos Liberal 10 March 1933 9 June 1935
Ioannis Metaxas Freethinkers' Party 9 June 1935 3 November 1935

List of leaders of the opposition (1935-1974)

Political party:   Vacant   Liberal   Greek Rally   EPEK–KF   DE   EDA   EK–KP   ERE

Portrait Name Political party Term of office
Vacant – Military or caretaker governments 3 November 1935 31 March 1946
Sofoklis Venizelos Liberal 31 March 1946 9 September 1951
Alexandros Papagos Greek Rally 9 September 1951 16 November 1952
Nikolaos Plastiras EPEK–KF 16 November 1952 26 July 1953
Sofoklis Venizelos EPEK–KF 26 July 1953 19 February 1956
Georgios Papandreou DE 19 February 1956 11 May 1958
Ioannis Passalidis EDA 11 May 1958 29 October 1961
Georgios Papandreou EK–KP 29 October 1961 3 November 1963
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos ERE 3 November 1963 21 April 1967

List of leaders of the opposition since 1974

Political party:   EK–ND / EDIK   PASOK   ND   SYRIZA

Portrait Name Political party Term of office
Georgios Mavros EK–ND
in 1976 merged into
EDIK 		21 November 1974 28 November 1977
Andreas Papandreou PASOK 28 November 1977 21 October 1981
Georgios Rallis New Democracy 21 October 1981 December 1981
Evangelos Averoff 9 December 1981 1 September 1984
Konstantinos Mitsotakis 1 September 1984 2 July 1989
Andreas Papandreou PASOK 2 July 1989 12 October 1989
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Grivas 12 October 1989 23 November 1989
None – Ecumenical Government of Xenophon Zolotas 23 November 1989 11 April 1990
Andreas Papandreou PASOK 11 April 1990 13 October 1993
Konstantinos Mitsotakis New Democracy 13 October 1993 3 November 1993
File:Evert-360.png Miltiadis Evert 3 November 1993 21 March 1997
Kostas Karamanlis 21 March 1997 10 March 2004
George Papandreou PASOK 10 March 2004 6 October 2009
Kostas Karamanlis New Democracy 6 October 2009 30 November 2009
Antonis Samaras 30 November 2009 16 May 2012
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos 16 May 2012 20 June 2012
Alexis Tsipras SYRIZA 20 June 2012 26 January 2015
Antonis Samaras New Democracy 26 January 2015 5 July 2015
Vangelis Meimarakis
Acting 		5 July 2015 27 August 2015
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou 27 August 2015 21 September 2015
Vangelis Meimarakis
Acting 		New Democracy 21 September 2015 24 November 2015
Ioannis Plakiotakis
Acting 		24 November 2015 11 January 2016
Kyriakos Mitsotakis 11 January 2016 8 July 2019
Alexis Tsipras SYRIZA 8 July 2019 25 May 2023
None – Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Sarmas 25 May 2023 26 June 2023
Alexis Tsipras SYRIZA 26 June 2023 29 June 2023
Sokrates Famellos
Acting 		3 July 2023 Incumbent

See also

References

  1. ^ "Παραιτήθηκε ο Αντώνης Σαμαράς από την ηγεσία της Νέας Δημοκρατίας" (in Greek). in.gr. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
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