1920 in Greece - Meeting of Parliament

Meeting of Parliament

Fortunately Venizelos was not seriously wounded and he was able to attend the meeting of parliament on September 7. The prime minister received an extremely enthusiastic welcome in the Chamber of Deputies, and a speech of welcome was made by the president of the house, who proposed a resolution proclaiming that the prime minister was the saviour of Greece, and that a permanent memorial should be erected to him in the Chamber. It is worth recording that this resolution was passed unanimously. Venizelos then rose to reply to the president and to thank the Chamber for its welcome, and also to present three treaties to parliament. The treaties in question were that with Turkey, that with the Great Powers relating to the transfer from them to Greece of the portion of Thrace which had been ceded to the Powers by Bulgaria; and, thirdly, one with Italy regarding the Dodecanese. The first two of these treaties at any rate were thoroughly satisfactory to Greece, and were certainly a monument to Venizelos's statesmanship. The prime minister said that since the Chamber was to be dissolved within a few days there would not be time for the ratification of these treaties, but this need not be regarded as a serious matter, because so far as the territorial sections of the agreements were concerned, the treaties had already been carried into effect. Venizelos said that so soon as the Chamber was dissolved, martial law and the censorship would be abolished, and the general election would be held in the autumn. Replying to the charges of his opponents, Venizelos said that he would guarantee that the elections would be held under conditions of absolute liberty.