Greece’s main opposition party SYRIZA wants elections “here and now!” In a meeting with the President of the Republic, left-wing leader Alexis Tsipras asked Karolos Papoulias to convey the political leaders so that they would agree to dissolve the Parliament and set the date for snap elections. Greek media report that Alexis Tsipras asked snap polls before the election of the new President and before the new agreement of Samaras’ coalition government with the country’s lenders, the Troika of EU, IMF and ECB.
The new Troika-Greece agreement is set for end November/December, while the Presidential elections are scheduled for February 2015. The President of the Hellenic Republic is being elected by the Parliament with 3/5 of the votes needed. That is 180 out of 300.
Tsipras briefed reporters after his meeting with Papoulias and stressed among others that
– he asked the President to immediately convey the Council of Political Leaders so that they would agree on election date before the election of the President of the Republic and before the new agreement between Greece and its lenders.
-the Council of Political leaders to explore the possibility of agreement in the person of the new President candidate so that the elections will reach a very large majority in the new Parliament that will emerge form the snap polls.
Alexis Tsipras accused Prime Minister Antonis Samaras for creating an atmosphere of artificial political polarization until March, and that “this polarization sends wrong messages both in Greece and abroad.”
Tsipras and Papoulias also discussed the need for minimum political consensus as the country is at crossroads.
However President Papoulias has no authorization to dissolve the Parliament nor call for early elections unless he is being asked by the Prime Minister to do so. On the other hand, the government can ask for snap polls for “urgent national reasons”.
Of course, in times of loan agreements where Constitution and institutions are been used and exploited according to lenders’ interests, everything is possible.
According to the present political circumstances, fact is that Samaras-Venizelos’ coalition government can not get together 180 needed votes to elect the new President from the current Parliament. Failure to elect the new president means that the Parliament has to be dissolved and snap polls take place as soon as possible.
Why wait until March, when you can do it beginning of December?
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think the soonest new elections can take place is six weeks.
PS huh? how can there be elections in a couple of weeks without the new PASOK, Venizelos’ Democratic Party?
