With 153 YES votes from his own deputies Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won the confidence vote in a session full of scenarios and speculations that at a certain point they were claiming Papandreou was to resign at any minute.
At the end of the day Papandreou did not step down, he offered a “national unity government” and early elections -maybe – in March 2012. The day ended with the festive act of former minister Louka Katseli to return in the open arms of PASOK. Katseli was expelled from the party last month when she voted NO to the multi-bill article about ‘labour conditions’.
At the very end of the crucial last days, Greece is at the same start-point as before. Papandreou is PM and will remain for a while. Or even for a ‘longer’ while. Only the referendum is off the table.
Last night, right after Papandreou’s speech at the parliament, opposition parties took the floor and responded to his call for “national unity/national responsibility/national salvation/national ‘whatever’ government”. As the initiators cannot agree on one name, I’d refer to it as ‘broader coalition government’ or even better as BCG.
Scenarios
With the exception of far-right LAOS (16 seats), the rest of the opposition parties rejected Pap’s proposal. The left/communists parties demanded early elections as soon as possible. Major opposition Nea Dimokratia didn’t deliver a speech, but party leader Samaras insisted the PM resigns. Furthermore, ND says YES to loan-agreement but NO to Memorandum of Understanding between Greece ‘and its lenders, which normally brings harsh austerity. This morning Samaras, rejected once more the BCG proposal and asked early elections.
Can there be a BCG without Nea Dimokratia (85 seats)? Difficult. Ex- Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni (4 seats) said that there can’t be a BCG without the two big parties.
A PASOK-LAOS coalition would sound like a bad joke when the ‘Nationalists’ cooperate with the ‘Socialists’…
A PASOK-LAOS-Bakoyanni coalition would not bring up 180 seats in the Parliment, neither a PASOK-LAOS-Bakoyannia-Kouvelis coalition. The current government has decided to have the the Oct 26th loan agreement passed at the Parliament with 180 votes. Then this loan agreement foresees among others “permanent EU/IMF supervisors in Greece” something that practially means ‘giving up a part of national souverignty’. For this, any government would need the consensus of 3/5 of the the MPs at the Greek parliament.
LAOS condition to proceed with BCG is to “hear in advance the name the person who would PM in the BCG”. It looks as if Papandreou proposed Fin Min Venizelos as PM. [some even speak of a Papazelou government…]
In BC governments, no party leader is assigned as PM.
At 12 noon Papandreou will meet the President of the Republic to brief him about his BVG proposal. Time presses and the PM has only 3-5 days to establish a BCG.
What will happen if he fails?
Will Papandreou continue to be the Prime Minister of Greece now that he has won the confidence vote after bowing to PASOK MPs’ pressure to seek a BCG? If his efforts to form a BCG fail, he will easily convince his MPs, that at least, he tried…
Acting politically correct, he should resign. But a “Papandreou” does not resign so easily…. In this case, he will most likely proceed to a cabinet reshuffle, adding some technocrats in the governments and here we will be again, punctual in the good old timetable of political instability, strikes, protests and new austerity measures…
Parties & Seats at the Greek Parliament:
PASOK (socialists) 153
Nea Dimokratia (centre-right) 85
Communist Party (KKE) 21
LAOS (far-right) 16
SYRIZA (left) 9
Bakoyanni(neoliberal) 4
Kouvelis (left) 4
Indepentant 8
PS This post will be occasionally updated depending on the developments
KTG lets face it the parliament only has one party.
partakias:300 seats
or for their full name ogtpm(ola gia ti parti mas)
lol oi Parta Ola
GPap has 3-5 days? Don’t think so. Watch out when the hated markets open on Monday and there is not a hint of a solution. There might be a BFBM (Big Fat Black Monday). They have until Sunday night at the latest…
Just my gut feeling at the moment.
A question to you, KTG, and Vassilis: What do you think about the last words of Alexis Papachelas in the eKathimerini “Should uncertainty return on Monday, nothing will save the political system and the country from rage and chaos.”
Is he seeing ghosts or are the ghosts really at the horizon?
fr/sa/so= days to negotiate BCG deal & say on so it’s ok; mo=go to president &confirm tue=new gov stays. Total: 5 days.
I think it’s a bit exaggerated what papachelas writes. my feeling is people are at stand by. Unless their salaries and pensions won’t come. but they did for this month.
Thanks. That’s a clear answer. I just worry that the will of the 300 to put Greece and its people before their personal interests is not there. Too many, not only politicians, unionists and opinion makers/leaders, are displaying the characteristics of an infamous Dutch navy officer Jan Van Speyck, who, faced with the prospect of seeing his ship captured by the Belgians, lit a fuse in the powder room and blew himself, his ship, and more importantly, all his men to smithereens. Hero or fool: his men didn’t have a say in it. And so won’t the Greek people I fear.
What next? A medicine-woman!
Allthough most Greeks will prefer jobs or a more radical solution, what’s needed next is to start an international campaign for welfare assistance. It’s (naively said) unbelievable that they don’t give Greece all sorts of “German medicine”.
Do you housework, Mademoiselle Merkozy and get informed about the Greek “welfare” state and as it is the plan to ruin Greece for the next generation people need a chance to feed themselves; at least until an independent Greek agriculture has developed.
Then someone should brief Mr.Papandreou about all kinds of bike-biz: Factories for high-quality bikes, rickshaws, frames and parts, mechanic-schools for bike-stations, pedal-powered submarines, pedicabs, bike-messenger-industry from sweet Greek backpacks and special bike bags for food deliveries to stylish cloths.
There is also the possibility to reorganize the complete fleet to work with wind-turbines…
.
true, welfare state here is a joke in comparison to Germany.
I think Mr Samaras is mostly right, there should be some sort of “unity” government now to approve the latest bailout and then there should be elections. The current parliament was not elected to deal with this crisis and it’s clear that Mr Papandreou has run out of ideas and his government has run out of steam. When a government does not know what to do (and especially when it is split down the middle as it is now) the only solution is to ask the people for their view. Almost every Greek I talk to has a different “solution” to the problem, but one thing they all agree on is that this government does not have the answer. So now is the time to ask the Greek people what they want, at least then you’ll get a government that has a mandate from the people to deal with this crisis.
What does it matter, the Greek economy is now run from Brussels by unelected bureaucrats. The EUSSR is taking shape.
EUSSR sounds proper for what’s is going on right now. I prefer it dissolves like the original.
As we can see in Afghanistan the ideology of markets functions that crazy that the man prefers even heroin farming instead of a functioning food supply systems. Normally a state must care for feeding its people and not for the dogma of the money machine of import/export.
What goes for Afghanistan must go for Greece also. Greece should export Kalamata Grass or black poppy from Amorgos.
i dont know what papachelas said. but beeing Greek media it depends on what the media owner wants. if a goverment decision is good for the owner then the goverment can do no wrong and anyone who disagrees is undemocratic and dangerous, if a decision is bad for the owner then the opposite applies.
and even though i didnt agree with the referendum proposal as it was the wrong time for one, the right time was 2 yeard ago or before the mesoprothesmo. it did show how the politics work in greece and in europe. they were all afraid of a NO vote. they didnt care that a NO vote would be the choice of the people, maybe a bad decision but a democratic one, they tried to make sure there was no risk of a no vote,they showed that they do not care for what their own people say. they only care every 4 years when they come round to ask for votes and for us to trust them. and we like muppets vote for them, people who think democracy means that they can do whatever they like and be unaccountable. i may come across as very cynical but nothing so far has proven to me that any of this is done for any other reason than money. people can starve and be unemployed and die or whatever as long as it makes a handful richer and then that handful can provide some of that money for political campaigns and other little gifts.
Vassilis. I did put the quote there: “Should uncertainty return on Monday, nothing will save the political system and the country from rage and chaos.”
I did not ask to endorse the person. I just wanted to know if you agreed with him that if by Monday there would not be some sort of certainty we would be in for “rage and chaos” here in Greece. Or if that is way over the top.
But I feel you have, in a sense, answered my question already by not reacting to this quote, face value, but instead looking first and foremost who he is, what is behind it and what are the vested, foreign, business interest behind him, the paper he is editing and so on and then, because he seems to be from ‘the wrong side’, dismissing it outright. One plus one equals two? Yes, but not if you are from the ‘other’ side…
It exemplifies Greek politics and to some extent Greek society.
sorry antonis i had a long post writeen in answer and it didnt post and then when i rewrote it i didn’t put everything in.Growing up in Geeece i foun dout one thing wherever a politician or a journalist said somrthing they always had an angle an interest on the result so that what they said was never objective, so i never take statements at face value. as for the chaos that mioght occur. it wont be in Greece. up to a point we live with it for most of our lives and we expect it at all times. the chaos will be in Europe and the markets. they will then make more panic decisions about Greece. which might lead to more unrest in Greece. what will happen after that i cannot guess. as far as i can see that is the biggest politicians fear both in greece and abroad. the uncertainty, will they be in power after, how will they control the situation. Ordinary people like things to be certain so that they can plan their lives but they are more used to uncertainty and can work around it. politicians on the other hand have learnt to salways get their way and contrl situations. so things like referendums, unrest,risky votes and so on take them out of their comfort zone. i dont believe in wrong side right side. its too subjective. the only thing separating it is the number of people supporting it. its just perspectives and they become right or wrong depending on peoples support. As it is things are hard for the country and they are bickering about who gets what chair and who gives the orders, and unfortunately the media play their favourites, left winf media promote their own agenda, right wing media theirs, and stuck in the middle is a country full of families.
Dear Vassilis. Thank you so much for this answer. I think I agree with most of what you say. But more important, I really appreciate it that you took the time to reply. I implied some ‘accusations’ in my response. But you proofed me wrong. So, if something in my response would have ‘hurt’ you, I withdraw it without a second thought and with full excuses.
Let’s hope we can get this wonderful country back on its tracks. And for that we need everybody. Greek AND non-Greek. As long as the love for Greece is paramount. Our live is limited. Greece existed in one form or the other already for more than 3500 years. So, we owe it to this wonderful place. Don’t we?
no need to apologise, everyone has their opinion and it is correct that they should, problems rise when peoples opinions no longer matter, and that is where we are now. not just in greece but most of the world. a mentality of “if you are not with me you are against me” is prevalant. im very greek in one specific way, i like arguing(verbally i mean) so i dont mind what you said, its part of the process, we argue, disagree, find common ground and move from there. i would find life very boring if everyone thought the same, did the same and acted the same. so please feel free to disagree with me and put your thoughts forward, that way i will learn more and also i will think of more of my own arguments and grow as a person. we should never stop learning and growing. im afraid in order to get the country back in its track we will have to ignore the governemtn and do it ourselves at a local level. strt from family then neighbouhood then local council. stop relying on goverment and then when the roots are there the governemt will have to accept it as it will be common practice and part of society.
Kalimera Vassilis,
although it wasn’t Pap’s aim that theatre showed the whole world that there is no perfect crime except of what they call democracy. Also the hypocrisy of all parties was obvious.
May be they were just scarred that the people will boycott such ridiculous question, because when under 40% vote they only can watch their “xaos” grow. Even better would be elections under 50% participation. Red card. There’s also not enough time for new parties (if they would allow them anyway) and independent candidates. May be Syntagma and the other Assemblies should make a congress to bring own candidates to not get fooled again. Just see the “pirate-party” in Germany from zero to 9%… OXI-Party
Just a thought…The next round of poloticians asking for our votes must promise to change the laws so that sitting poloticians CAN be charged with a crime for embezzelment and also to have a CITIZEN over sight COMMITTE !!!!! ZHTO H ELLAS !!!!!