The relationship between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President of Parliament Zoi Konstantopoulou has taken a turn for the worse, following the government’s decision to appoint a new board of directors in public broadcaster ERT, which is to resume operations on Monday.
Specifically, Mrs. Konstantopoulou has objected to the appointments and openly clashed with the government in Tuesday’s meeting of SYRIZA’s parliamentary group leaders. Following the meeting, State Minister Nikos Pappas requested that postponement of the Parliamentary Committee of Institutions and Transparency session that was planned for Thursday, which is to ratify the appointments. Mrs. Konstantopoulou is the chairperson of the particular Committee.
The rift between Mrs. Konstantopoulou and the government appears to have deepened in response to the government’s attempt to circumvent Parliament, in order to pass a potential agreement with the country’s creditors. The President of Parliament vehemently opposes such a prospect and is not prepared to allow such practices.
With a growing number of SYRIZA MP’s supporting Mrs. Konstantopoulou’s objections, the government fears that it may not be able to ratify its ERT initiative, which in turn with further entrench the President of Parliament.
