At this moment, the socialist government of PASOK has just ordered the so-called “civil conscription” of lorry drivers, who have been on strike for a fourth consecutive day. International media described this as an “emergency order”, but it is well worth to look a bit deeper into this measure, as it is now likely that it will concern us time and time again during the forthcoming winter.
(text below shamelessly copied and translated from corporate media)
What is civil conscription?
Civil conscription (politiki epistratefsi) is the conscription of personal services, that is, the compulsory provision of personal services of those conscripted – and it can be called based on Law Decree 17/1974 “Regarding the Political Planning of State of Emergency”. The decree in question states that a state of emergency is every sudden situation caused either by physical or other events or anomalies of every kind and which results in the obstruction and disruption of the country’s financial and social life.
More specifically, article 18 of the 17/1974 Decree allows the civil conscription of personal in the case of their political mobilisation. The Decree was issued before the 1975 Constitution and is [therefore] based upon the Constitution of 1952.
Conscription procedures
Everyone called to offer their services are issued with a “personal invite to political conscription”. The responsibility for the overseeing of this procedure falls with the local prefectures.
Penalties
Refusing to accept the conscription letter has legal consequences. In this case, the emergency court procedure is initiated (autoforo) and those who refuse the letter must be arrested and stand trial. In the case that the recipient of the letter is absent, the letter must be pasted on their front-door and the recipients must be immediately located by the police.
Chronicle of civil conscriptions
- 1979- conscription of bank clerks, as their strike had “paralysed” the banking sector.
- 1983- conscription of the drivers of road tankers.
- 1986- conscription of the flying mechanics of Olympic Airways
- 1994- conscription of the buses of civilians who were co-operating with the Transport Organisation of Athens
- 2002- civil conscription of the striking dockworkers, following the serious problems caused by the isolation of the greek islands
- 2006- civil conscription of the striking dockworkers
2 Comments
I do wonder why this site calls the current government ‘socialist.’ Rather it should be called social-democratic. A lot of socialists, including me, do not at all identify with the policies of the social-democrats of the past, say, 120 years.
I think the difference should be emphasized because the regular media use it to pronounce a ‘socialist’-liberal antogonism which does not really exist. Rather the radical left should put them on a heap and clarify our differences with them.
Diploma civil engineer
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