The Prime Minister Antonis Samaras delivered his speech in Berlin on Saturday at an event organized by the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, where told journalists that his government is strong, stable and will not lose the parliamentary majority. Mr. Samaras further elaborated and explained that for every coalition government MP to “rebel” there are other MPs “willing to help”.
In private Mr. Samaras has repeatedly expressed his optimism that there is no real threat to his government, however this time Mr. Samaras’ reference inevitably sparked discussions as to the lifespan of the coalition government and Mr. Samaras’ ability to manage an increasingly fragmented coalition with Evangelos Venizelos’ PASOK.
Mr. Samaras explained that aside from the support of former New Democracy MPs (such as Messrs. Markopoulos and Soldatos), he has the “personal assurances” from independent MPs and MPs from the opposition who have seemingly committed to not voting in such a way that the government will fall.
The likeliest allies for Mr. Samaras will come from ANEL, where a number of MPs have challenged party president Panos Kammenos, such as the party’s former spokesman Terrence Quick, current Vice President of Parliament Maria Kollia and Pavlos Haikalis. To a lesser extent, the coalition government can potentially rely for support in crucial votes on independent MPs such as Giorgos Kasapidis and MPs from the center left, who have been critical of the government but at the same time do want to perpetuate the political instability.
Whether these assurances were genuine or not will become apparent in the upcoming critical votes in Parliament in December. The budget, which is traditionally viewed as a vote of confidence towards the government, is scheduled to take place by the 8th of December, while the controversial revised real estate tax bill are likely being to be decided upon on the 4th of December. The lift of the ban on primary residence auctions us probably going to be tackled in spring.
With Greece assuming the presidency of the EU in January, followed by elections for the European Parliament and local government in May 2014, Mr. Samaras’ administration must deal with these critical votes in the near future, so as to avoid any complications with the troika. The creditors will make their proposals for the extent of fiscal reforms necessary, with the government now having to decide where it will draw a line, such as mass layoffs or the closure of the defense industries.
