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The Constitution (article 65) provides that the Parliament shall elect a Presidium. The Presidium is comprised by the Speaker of the Parliament, seven (7) Deputy Speakers, three (3) Deans and six (6) Secretaries. Its main characteristic is its multi-partisan composition. To this end, it is mandatory that the fourth Deputy Speaker, a dean and a secretary belong to the opposition party, the fifth Deputy Speaker and a secretary belong to the second-in-power opposition party, the sixth Deputy Speaker belongs to the third-in-power opposition party, and that the seventh Deputy Speaker belongs to the fourth-in-power opposition party. A member of the Presidium, who of course must be a parliamentarian, cannot be a member of the Cabinet or an Under-Secretary.
The Speaker of the Parliament and the seven Deputy Speakers are elected at the beginning of each term and for the entire duration of that term. By contrast, the tenure of the Deans and of the Secretaries lasts for the duration of the regular session of the Parliament for which they were elected.
The election of the Speaker of the Parliament is one of the most important moments in the operation of the Parliament., Not only because the office of the Speaker of the Parliament is significant in itself, but also because the secret vote for the election of the Speaker constitutes the first opportunity for the assessment of the cohesiveness of the majority in Parliament. The Speaker is elected by the absolute majority of the total number of the MPs (i.e. by 151 votes). If this majority is not attained, the vote is repeated, and the candidate who gets the most votes is elected.
The Speaker of the Parliament directs the business of the Parliament, represents the Parliament, is responsible for the enforcement of disciplinary measures against parliamentarians, and, generally, is the head of all the services of the Parliament and possesses all the responsibilities bestowed on him by the Constitution, the Standing Orders, or steming from the principle of independence of the Parliament. In other words, the Speaker has the final say on all matters that concern the inner workings of the Parliament. Additionally, the Speaker replaces the President of the Republic when the latter is abroad for a prolonged period of time, passes away, resigns, is deposed, or is hindered from performing his duties for any reason whatsoever.
The Deputy Speakers perform their duties as assigned to them by the Speaker or as provided in the Standing Orders. The Deans assist the Speaker in organizational and executive matters of the Parliament, while the Secretaries assist the Speaker in the Parliamentary sessions and are responsible for whatever else the Speaker assigns to them.
Since the entry in force of the Constitution of 1975, the office of the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament has been held by the following indivuduals: Constantine Papaconstantinou, Demetrios Papaspirou, Ioannis Alevras, Athanassios Tsaldaris, Apostolos Kaklamanis and Anna Benaki-Psarouda.
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