Zoe Konstantopoulou
| Zoe Konstantopoulou | |
|---|---|
| Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου | |
 | |
| Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament | |
|
In office 6 February 2015 – 4 October 2015 | |
| President |
Karolos Papoulias Prokopis Pavlopoulos |
| Preceded by | Vangelis Meimarakis |
| Succeeded by | Nikos Voutsis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 8, 1976 Athens, Greece |
| Political party |
Coalition of the Radical Left (2012-2015) Course of Freedom (2016-) |
| Parents |
Nikos Konstantopoulos, Lina Alexiou |
| Alma mater |
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Paris West University Nanterre La Défense Pantheon-Sorbonne University |
| Profession | Human rights lawyer |
| Website |
www |
Zoe Konstantopoulou (Greek: Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου; born December 8, 1976) is a Greek lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament in 2015.
On 27 January 2015, as a member of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), she was nominated as Speaker of Parliament.[1] She was elected to the post on 6 February 2015 with the record number of 235 out of 300 votes. Apart from SYRIZA, her candidacy was also supported by the Independent Greeks, The River, PASOK and New Democracy parties.[2]
Konstantopoulou supported the Popular Unity party, formed by former members of SYRIZA's Left Platform, in the September 2015 parliamentary election.[3] In April 2016, Konstantopoulou launched a new party named Course of Freedom, of which she is currently the leader.[4]
Life
Born in December 1976 in Athens, she is the daughter of former Synaspismos chairman Nikos Konstantopoulos and his wife Lina Alexiou.[5] She studied law at the Law School of the University of Athens, International and European Law at Paris X Nanterre and a post-graduate course at Sorbonne on European Criminal Law and European Anti-crime Policies.[5] In parallel, in 1998–2000, she participated in the French prisoners education programme, teaching English at the Fresnes Prison.[5] In 2001, she worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She then completed a second post-graduate course on Human Rights and Criminal Law at Columbia University, while working at the office of the Greek Permanent Representative to the United Nations.[5]
Since 2003 she has been an active lawyer in Greece, focusing on penal and international criminal law and human rights.[5] She first stood for office in the 2009 European elections for SYRIZA, and was elected for the first time to the Hellenic Parliament in the May 2012 election for Athens A. Re-elected in the June 2012 election, she served in the 2012–14 parliament as a member of the committees on Institutions and Transparency, Public Order and Justice, European Affairs, the Permanent Public Administration Committee, and the Inter-party Committee on German War Reparations.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7] In Parliament, Konstantopoulou switched off Theodorakis's microphone when he was speaking about her role in the affair.[8]
Speaker of the House
On 6 February 2015, after SYRIZA's victory in the January 2015 election, she was elected as the youngest Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament with 235 votes.[5]
In July 2015 she spoke against the Greek government's agreement with the European troika regarding the political and economic countermeasures to the Greek government-debt crisis after the results of the bailout referendum in 2015.[9]
References
- ↑ "Greece's SYRIZA-led coalition govt line-up unveiled". Xinhua. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ↑ "Zoe Konstantopoulou elected youngest ever House president". Times of Change. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
- ↑ "Lafazanis: Drachma not a catastrophe for Greece". Proto Thema. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ↑ Evgenia Choros (2016-04-15). "Zoe Konstantopoulou to Present New Party 'Course of Freedom'". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου, η νεότερη πρόεδρος στην ιστορία της Βουλής (in Greek). in.gr. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ↑ "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)" (PDF). OHCHR. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
- ↑ "Stavros, Zoe and …6 postponements in trial of 'cheese pie rapist'". Proto Thema. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ↑ "Θεοδωράκης προς ΣΥΡΙΖΑ: Είστε κομματικοί υπάλληλοι!" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ↑ "NO to ultimatums, NO to the memoranda of servitude – Speech delivered by the president of the Greek parliament". Europe solidaire sans frontières (in French). 11 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
External links
- Official website (Greek)
- CV and office terms of Zoe Konstantopoulou at the Hellenic Parliament (English)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Vangelis Meimarakis |
Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament 6 February – 4 October 2015 |
Succeeded by Nikos Voutsis |