The broad majority of the Plenary of the parliament with 247 members was gathered by the candidacy of Nikitas Kaklamanis, who was elected the new Speaker of the House.
ND, PASOK, SYRIZA, Hellenic Solution, Spartans and the majority of independent MPs voted in favor of Nikitas Kaklamanis' candidacy. On the other hand, KKE, Niki, New Left and Pleusi Eleftherias declared themselves "present". Dimitris Natsios, Rallia Christidou and Nikos Vrettos were absent from the vote.
It is recalled that Nikitas Kaklamanis was nominated for the highest parliamentary office by ND President Kyriakos Mitsotakis, following the resignation of Costas Tasoulas, who will be a candidate for President of the Republic.
Nikitas Kaklamanis, immediately after the announcement of the result, took the floor and, among other things, said that his election to the top parliamentary office also marks the end of his personal political marathon that began in 1990 when he was first elected as an MP.
The entire speech of Nikitas Kaklamanis
Mr. President of the Government, Ladies and Gentlemen Chairmen of the Parliamentary Groups, Ladies and Gentlemen Members of Parliament, My dear colleagues, It is a great joy, honor and responsibility to assume today the duties of the 14th President of the Hellenic Parliament. Your vote has once again united the parliament from end to end. The steadfast, stubborn faith in me all these years deeply moves me and proves that the truth of my path and intentions has never been denied. If I were to turn back time to 1990, when I was first elected as a member of parliament for A'Athens, I could not imagine what I am experiencing and feeling today. Even more, I could never have imagined as a little child who once took the boat from Andros to study and become a doctor, that I would be living such a peak moment today. A moment that marks the end of a political marathon. For all of this, I owe a big “thank you”. (Both to you and to Kyriakos Mitsotakis). Just as I owe an even bigger “thank you” to the Athenians. To the people who lived me and I lived them for decades. To those who continue to this day to invest in me with a vote of the heart. My entire long journey, from the youth of ERE to my student years until this day, is sealed today to complete a cycle where I lived and acted according to an unwavering code of values. Without discounts, without folds, without “yes, but”.
Always guided by faith in Greece and the Greeks. Always with courage, with a non-negotiable sense of justice, with a lot of work and with an absolute awareness of my responsibility. This is also what the function I chose to exercise in life taught me. This is what I carried over into my political career. And this is what I will continue to do until the end. When a few months ago I was asked what I miss most about the parliamentary experience of the Presidency, I answered that “I feel like a father who misses his children”. Therefore, now that I meet all of you again from this position, I want you to allow me to address you with a few “fatherly” words. Each of us who is in this room today holds in our hands two precious gifts. The first is the honor and at the same time the special weight of the vote from the Greek people, who gave him the right to be here today. A right that gives rise to not equal, but multiple obligations towards it. The second gift has traveled from the depths of time, through a centuries-long, adventurous path to finally find itself in our hands. It is the Parliamentary Democracy, as an evolution of the Athenian, which we were called to serve. Before us, the same gift, on the same benches, our idols rested. The sacred monsters of politics from all factions, who adorned this hall. And this thought alone is enough to understand the weight of responsibility that our heritage carries… It is true that much has changed since then and will certainly change even more, but the engine of Democracy is still powered by the same fuel: the principle of popular sovereignty. From this starting point it is transferred and reflected in Parliament. This is why the Parliament, as the highest political institution, is not understood as something unambiguous or superficial. It is not a sterile legislative body or a political arena, but a living organism with an expanded mission and a special physiognomy. In this sense, the parliamentary body, in addition to its formal mission, also has a socially charged role: that of education.
Because as a “mirror” it reflects the electorate and at the same time is reflected as an example of ethics and action to the people. That is precisely where our multiple responsibility lies: in the shaping of individual and collective ethics through our public example. Politics as the “greatest art” and the “best virtue”, according to Socrates, today requires from us the ethical and intellectual virtues of Aristotle: courage, restraint, offering, magnanimity, prudence, justice, respect. These are the unwavering principles that must constitute the modern parliamentary ethos. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to set an example, acting as shapers of parliamentary culture and by extension of the Greek conscience. Both individually and collectively as a Body, we can undertake social action together, beyond our narrow parliamentary duties. The Greek Parliament has both the power and the obligation to do so, as it has done in the past. With joint initiatives, with fresh or tried-and-tested ideas, and with its eyes focused on the big picture of Greece, far from silos and petty politics.
But above all with unity, because this is what is needed in the strange times we live in. Once, Konstantinos Karamanlis said that “History teaches that whatever the Greeks gain in war, they lose in peace. For example, in 1920, 1940 and so many others. And we lose it because we have the bad habit of making our national issues the subject of intense political antagonisms, which often take the form of patriotism and end in divisions”. So today, from this position, I openly challenge you to refute him all together. Because if you saw in this room what I see, you would be sure that we can. So in this room, there are no winners and losers, small or large, blue, green, or red… There are simply 300 people who can be role models for the Greek people.
As long as they want it. As long as they confess their faith in genuine democratic ideals, in humanity, integrity and patriotism. You might say that I am a romantic. But personally, due to experience, I prefer to side with Cavafy who wrote that we should “see things innocently sometimes, and gently”, and not “we should go back to our intrigues — to resume our tedious political struggle”… The times to come will give rise to new challenges. And we are all called to confront two lines from the work of the great Alexandrian. “Fear greatness, O soul. And if you cannot overcome your ambitions, follow them with hesitation and caution. And as you proceed forward, be as inquisitive and careful”. Thank you.
Discussion about this post