Controversial Bill on Higher Education Clears Greek Parliament

One member of Greece’s parliamentary majority voted against the controversial bill on Higher Education that was approved in the House on Wednesday.
Dimitris Kammenos, MP for junior government partner Independent Greeks party (ANEL), voted against Article 3 of the bill, related to the university asylum.
Article 3 is one of the more controversial aspects of the new law as it restores older provisions that allow police’s intervention in university campuses only in cases of serious offenses.
“We must safeguard the free access to all ideas and expressions in the universities with respect to the democratic procedures. The only way to solve the problem is dialogue in the universities and not police interventions that remind us of other historical periods”, said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to the parliament plenum during the debate on Tuesday.
The opposition has launched a scathing attack on the government saying that the reintroduction of the asylum will tie police’s hands and allow acts of vandalism, crime and anarchy in the universities.
Leader of main opposition New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pledged to abolish the law when his party comes to power. “The government bill on higher education will set Greek universities back decades“, he said.

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