Tiptoeing into same-sex marriage

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has chosen a low-drama approach in his effort to reform family law to allow same-sex couples to marry.

In a TV interview last Wednesday, Mitsotakis made it clear he wants to avoid intra-party tension, even as some MPs from his ruling New Democracy party, including a former prime minister, are loudly proclaiming their opposition.

In the interview, Mitsotakis suggested that MPs with a conscience problem should abstain, hoping that the left-wing opposition will support the proposed bill out of principle, despite criticizing its "inadequacy." Also, according to parliamentary rules, abstentions would lower the required majority threshold from 151 to as few as 75 votes in the 300-member Parliament.

Privately, Mitsotakis has made it clear, first to his own cabinet, which includes some dissenters, and his parliamentary group that,...