|
 Panos Skourletis, energy minister in the Syriza-led government
which resigned last week, also said the nation must avoid deadlock
leading to a second round of elections - a scenario that politicians
are already debating even though a first round has yet to be called.
Syriza, which during its seven months in power took Greece to the
brink of financial collapse and exit from the euro, is projecting
confidence, although it remains beset by internal divisions even
after it formally split last week.
"I believe that an absolute majority in parliament for Syriza is
achievable," Skourletis told Mega TV. He also played down the
possibility of doing a post-election deal with the main pro-bailout
groups - the conservative New Democracy, centrist To Potami or the
PASOK socialists.
"For collaborations to be politically credible, they must be based
on an existing convergence of programs, a common ground," he said.
"I do not see this political credibility with the forces of New
Democracy, Potami or PASOK."
 Greece's president has tasked two opposition parties with trying to
form a new government after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras quit last
Thursday, hoping to avoid an election only seven months after the
last one brought Syriza to power.
With parties deeply divided over the bailout - Greece's third since
2010 - and its tough conditions, New Democracy has already failed to
find coalition partners.
Now Popular Unity, the far-left breakaway from Syriza, is going
through the motions. Its leader, Panagiotis Lafazanis, has already
admitted defeat and is using his three-day presidential mandate
merely to win air time for his anti-bailout message.
Once his mandate expires on Wednesday night, President Prokopis
Pavlopoulos is expected to make one final attempt to achieve a
compromise among the parties. As this is also nearly certain to
fail, he will then appoint a caretaker premier and call elections
within 30 days.
Greeks are starting to worry the election might fail to end the
paralysis just as the country is supposed to be implementing the
bailout measures, and a second round must be held, as in 2012.
Skourletis opposed such a scenario. "We must avoid this. Some things
have their limits. People know this and will vote in such a way so
that we do not end up in a jam," he said.
[to top of second column] |
SHOW OF CONFIDENCE
Whether Syriza's show of confidence is justified is unclear. No
opinion poll has been published since July 24, well before Tsipras
resigned and Syriza split. Pollsters say it is hard to muster a
representative sample when many voters are on holiday. However, most
are now returning to the cities and polls are expected to start
appearing shortly.
Syriza is banking on the assumption that Tsipras remains popular for
standing up to Greece's euro zone and IMF creditors, even though he
eventually caved in and accepted their demands for more austerity
and economic reforms in return for 86 billion euros ($99 billion) in
bailout loans.
But if Tsipras wants to jettison the hard left, leaving Syriza as a
party a little closer to the center that accepts the bailout, he has
work to do.
Altogether 43 out of 149 Syriza lawmakers rebelled earlier this
month by refusing to back the bailout in parliament. But only 25
subsequently formed Popular Unity, meaning Tsipras has to deal with
a sizeable number of anti-bailout lawmakers who remain in Syriza.
These include the speaker of parliament Zoe Konstantopoulou and
former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
Popular Unity appealed to Syriza doubters to defect. "Being
pro-bailout and anti-bailout in the same party cannot go on," said
Costas Lapavitsas, a former Syriza lawmaker who joined the
breakaway.
"The third bailout is from the same womb as the previous ones. It
will bring austerity and recession with a rise in unemployment,"
Lapavitsas, an economist who argues Greece would be better off
leaving the euro, told Mega TV.
(writing by David Stamp; Editing by Dominic Evans)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
