The Minister of Productive Reconstruction and head of the Left Platform Panagiotis Lafazanis, who has openly announced his intention to vote against the critical bill that will be voted upon in Parliament on Wednesday.

With his departure from the government considered a given, Mr. Lafazanis held a meeting at a central hotel in Athens on Tuesday evening, with the participation of hundreds of SYRIZA and Left Platform members, where he described his plans for a return to a national currency.

In his speech, Mr. Lafazanis explained that a sum of 22 billion euros that is held at the Bank of Greece may be used towards covering expenses for a few, until a new currency can be issued. Whether this is legal or even practical is debatable.

Mr. Lafazanis underlined that the Left Platform will not vote for the measures and agreement submitted in Parliament and clarified the Platform’s MPs will not resign or hand over their seat.