Parliament convenes to discuss and vote on referendum (live)

The House of Parliament convened at noon on Saturday, following Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras‘ call for a referendum. In order for the referendum to take place on Sunday, the 5^th of June, at least 151 MPs will have to support the motion. The discussion in Parliament will conclude with a vote a midnight.

The discussion opened with a speech by the Minister of Interior Nikos Voutsis, who argued that the call for a referendum is “absolutely imperative and useful”. Mr. Voutsis stressed that the referendum is necessary, as the choices presented will determine the future of the Greek people.

The parliamentary spokesman for PASOK and former party leader Evangelos Venizelos disputed government initiative for a referendum and argued that it conflicted with the Constitution. Earlier, Mr. Venizelos submitted an objection against the referendum proposal regarding its content to the President of Parliament Zoi Konstantopoulou.

SYRIZA’s spokesman in Parliament Nikos Filis responded to Mr. Venizelos and underlined that the referendum complied with the relevant constitutional provisions, as it referred to a critical national matter. Mr. Filis accused his colleague in PASOK of spreading propaganda and stated that the referendum demonstrates that the government respects the Greek people’s will.

Watch the session in Parliament live