The Leader of the Official Opposition () is the politician who leads the biggest opposition party in Greece.
Today Leader of the Official Opposition is the President of the parliamentary group of PASOK – Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis.
Role According to the Rules of the Hellenic Parliament: "The President of the largest Parliamentary Group, who is not a member of the Government, is called the Leader of the Official Opposition, an office which gives him/her special rights (e.g. more speaking time during parliamentary sittings). (...) The leader of the party is also considered the President of the Parliamentary Group if he/she has been elected as a Member of Parliament." https://www.hellenicparliament.gr/Organosi-kai-Leitourgia/Koinovouleftikes-Omades/
The leader of the official opposition is regarded as the fourth highest state office of the Hellenic Republic, after the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament. In addition, the leader of the opposition has certain minor privileges at the stage of the parliamentary procedure, including the ability to request two debates before the agenda, a longer speaking time and the right to appoint up to three deputy representatives at meetings, the same as the Prime Minister.
Change of opposition leader without elections The crisis that erupted in Syriza in the autumn of 2024 due to the expulsion of the elected President Stefanos Kaselakis from the party's organs and the subsequent rupture between the two sides led to the independence of MPs, resulting in the party losing the role of the official opposition, remaining second with 29 MPs behind Pasok (31 MPs), which was officially declared the official opposition on 21 November 2024. The President of the Parliament noted that this phenomenon - a change in the leader of the opposition without elections is unprecedented in the Greek parliamentary history.Mr Tasoulas on SYRIZA: "It is sad... For the first time the electorate's vote is not valid" (el)
Pasok returned as an opposition leader party after 15 years. What Greece was like the last time PASOK was in opposition (ελ)
List of leaders of the opposition since 1974 Political party:
Portrait Name Political party Term of office Georgios Mavros EK–NDEDIK 21 November 1974 28 November 1977 Andreas Papandreou PASOK 28 November 1977 21 October 1981 Georgios Rallis New Democracy 21 October 1981 9 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 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 5 July 2015 27 August 2015 None – Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou 27 August 2015 21 September 2015 Vangelis Meimarakis New Democracy 21 September 2015 24 November 2015 Giannis Plakiotakis 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 Sokratis Famellos 3 July 2023 27 August 2024 Nikos Pappas 27 August 2024 21 November 2024 Nikos Androulakis PASOK – Movement for Change 21 November 2024 Incumbent
See also Prime Minister of Greece
References