Zoe Konstantopoulou Explained

Zoe Konstantopoulou
Office:Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament
President:Karolos Papoulias
Prokopis Pavlopoulos
Term Start:6 February 2015
Term End:4 October 2015
Predecessor:Vangelis Meimarakis
Successor:Nikos Voutsis
Office2:President of the Course of Freedom
Term Start2:19 April 2016
Predecessor2:Position established
Office3:Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Constituency3:Athens B1
Term Start3:25 June 2023
Constituency4:Athens A
Term Start4:6 May 2012
Term End4:28 August 2015
Birth Date:8 December 1976
Birth Place:Athens, Greece
Party:Syriza (2012–2015)
Popular Unity (2015–2016)
Course of Freedom (since 2016)
Parents:Nikos Konstantopoulos,
Lina Alexiou
Alma Mater:National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Paris Nanterre University
Pantheon-Sorbonne University
Columbia University

Zoe Konstantopoulou (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου; born 8 December 1976) is a Greek politician of the political left, who served as Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament from February to October 2015. Since 2016 she has been the president of the Course of Freedom.[1]

Life

Born on 8 December 1976, in Athens, Konstantopoulou is the daughter of former Synaspismos leader and lawyer Nikos Konstantopoulos and journalist Lina Alexiou. Both her parents were leading figures in Greece's anti-dictatorship struggle.

She is a graduate of the Athens University and Paris Nanterre University law schools. She obtained a DEA at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University on European criminal law and criminal policy in Europe and an LL.M. at Columbia Law School with a focus on international law, human rights and criminal law.

As a lawyer, Konstantopoulou was criticized by women's organisations and by the Greek branch of Helsinki Monitor for repeatedly delaying the trial of one of her clients, a rapist, by raising procedural obstacles.[2] Originally to be held in 2006, the man was not finally convicted until 2012. The River leader and MP Stavros Theodorakis regularly taunted Konstantopoulou in parliament about her role in what became known as the "rapist with the tyropita (cheese pies)" scandal.[3] In Parliament, Konstantopoulou switched off Theodorakis's microphone when he was speaking about her role in the affair.[4]

Parliamentary life

Konstantopoulou was elected to the Greek Parliament on her first attempt in May 2012 as a candidate with Syriza. She was re-elected in the June 2012 and January 2015 elections.

From 2012 to 2014, she was responsible for the justice, transparency and human rights brief for Syriza. She wrote the Black Book of Shame, which lists what Syriza considered political and financial scandals.[5]

On 6 February 2015, she was elected parliamentary speaker, with a record number of 235 out of 300 votes, from her own as well as from the Independent Greeks, The River, PASOK and New Democracy parties.[6] [7]

During her tenure as "firebrand" Speaker of the Greek Parliament, Zoe Konstantopoulou used her office to set up three legal processes: a Greek Debt Truth committee, a committee to oversee Greek war reparations claims against Germany, and a pipeline of high-level corruption cases targeted around public sector contracts with German firms (such as the Siemens scandal and the Lagarde list scandal).[8] [9] [10] After the agreement for the Third Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece by the first government of SYRIZA-ANEL in a U-turn from their anti-austerity identity and pre-election campaign promises, Zoe Konstantopoulou dissociated her views from the party in opposition to this, and raised a number of procedural hurdles to delay the bailout bill when it was brought for approval in the Parliament; voting against it along with rebellious anti-austerity and far-left SYRIZA MPs, she resigned as President of the Hellenic Parliament as part of a breakaway of a nationalist, Eurosceptic, hard left Syriza faction (which contained the pro-Grexit "Left Platform" of Panagiotis Lafazanis) and participated in the following legislative elections as a "collaborative independent" candidate of the pro-drachma Popular Unity party formed from said breakaway faction.[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] However, the party did not manage to achieve the electoral threshold for representation in the legislature.

Political activity since 2015

In the summer of 2015, she left Syriza. In the September 2015 Parliamentary Elections, she ran as an MP for Popular Unity[18] but the party narrowly fell short of the parliamentary threshold.

In April 2016, Konstantopoulou launched a new party, Course of Freedom.[19]

In the 2019 and May 2023 general elections, the party came in seventh and eighth place, respectively, but did not manage to enter Parliament. She was elected back to Parliament following the June 2023 elections, with her party winning 8 seats. In the 2024 EU elections the party raised its percentage from the previous EU election and slightly from the 2023 June election; electing one MEP (Maria Zacharia).

Notes and References

  1. Book: Fouskas. Vassilis K.. Greece in the 21st Century: The Politics and Economics of a Crisis. Dimoulas. Constantine. 14 March 2018. Routledge. 978-1-351-04750-0. en.
  2. Web site: Parallel Report on Greece's compliance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women : An Update (June 2012 – January 2013) . . 27 October 2015.
  3. Web site: Stavros, Zoe and …6 postponements in trial of 'cheese pie rapist' . . 15 July 2015 . 27 October 2015.
  4. Web site: Θεοδωράκης προς ΣΥΡΙΖΑ: Είστε κομματικοί υπάλληλοι! . gazzetta.gr . 27 June 2015 . 27 October 2015 . el.
  5. Web site: Zoi Konstantopoulou, Greece's Madame Speaker And Syriza Secret Weapon - Worldcrunch . 6 June 2023 . worldcrunch.com . en.
  6. Web site: 21 December 2020. Το εξώδικο της Ζωής Κωνσταντοπούλου για άρθρο των "Νέων". 19 January 2021. ΤΑ ΝΕΑ. el.
  7. News: Zoe Konstantopoulou elected youngest ever House president. Times of Change. 6 February 2015. 9 February 2015.
  8. News: Why Greece's Syriza party is not sticking to the script on an IMF deal . 27 April 2024 . . . 21 May 2015.
  9. News: Greek 'truth' committee probes legality of EU bailouts . 5 June 2024 . . 2 June 2015.
  10. News: Explainer: could Greece's debt and bailout plan be illegal? . 5 June 2024 . . June 24, 2015.
  11. News: With election near, Tsipras faces widening rift within Syriza . 5 June 2024 . . August 28, 2015.
  12. News: Greek leftist dissenters fume over Tsipras concessions . 5 June 2024 . . June 23, 2015.
  13. News: Greece approves new batch of reforms for multi-billion dollar bailout . 5 June 2024 . . Jul 22, 2015.
  14. News: Greek parliament tested by dissent ahead of key reform vote . 5 June 2024 . . 23 July 2015.
  15. News: Tsipras challenges his party critics to bailout showdown . 5 June 2024 . . 31 July 2015.
  16. Web site: Zoe bolts SYRIZA, will cooperate with new radical left party . Proto Thema . 31 August 2015 . 2017-11-06.
  17. Web site: Hard left splits from Tsipras and calls for drachma . . 11 February 2024.
  18. News: Lafazanis: Drachma not a catastrophe for Greece. Proto Thema. 8 September 2015. 9 September 2015.
  19. Web site: Evgenia Choros . Zoe Konstantopoulou to Present New Party 'Course of Freedom' . . 15 April 2016 . 24 May 2016.