This is something “alien” to the Greek situation, but the country may have a minority government, i.e. a government not based on a positive vote of at least 151 deputies out of 300. This is the so-called “government of tolerance”, which was much talked about at some point in the pre-election period regarding the corresponding exile of Mr. Al. Tsipras. Both the Constitution and its provisions parliament they clearly define the limits within which a government structure consisting of one or more parties can be managed, even if they do not have parliamentary groups whose members constitute the absolute majority of the national representation.

As you know, in Greece, one-party or coalition governments were in power with the support of at least 151 “yes”. However, no political force has tried, during periods when a repeat vote was required, to achieve the results of the first round of elections in order to ask for confidence without having an absolute majority: either independently or in cooperation with another party. If this succeeded, it would mean that we would have a so-called “tolerance” government.

How could such a form of minority government be formed and maintained, even for a short period of time? The conditions are essentially and formally determined by Article 84 of the Constitution (“On the Confidence of Parliament”), indirectly by Article 37 on the appointment of the Prime Minister after advance directives, and also by Article 141 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.

Procedurally, this possibility can be provided through a provision on how the government can obtain a “vote of confidence”. Initially, it is necessary to separate the specific procedure from the “vote of no confidence” procedure. If a vote of no confidence (what we commonly refer to as a vote of no confidence) is submitted to the government by the official opposition—as has often happened—at the time of the vote, a decision would require at least 151 yes votes.

Conversely, when a government, whether one-party or cooperative, requests a vote of confidence from Parliament, this position of “confidence” is established on the basis of a majority of the deputies present at the vote, on one condition: there must be at least “two-fifths of the total number of votes” in favor. deputies”, i.e. there must be at least 120 “for” votes, and at least one less “against” vote. If such an outcome means that at a critical moment of decision, some parties or individual deputies who do not actively participate in the scheme of government will be absent from the plenary hall. In the most extreme case, for the result to be considered a vote of confidence in the government, i.e. for 120 “for” and 119 “no”, then 61 deputies would have to be absent at the time of voting. voting: in their absence, they will essentially declare not their full support for the government’s scheme, but their tolerance for it, for some reason. And it is precisely the position of abstinence that is insultingly called the “voice of tolerance.”