The coalition government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi has ruled out the possibility of early elections on occasion of an informal struggle between coalition partners New Democracy and PASOK. Mrs. Voultepsi was supported by Deputy Growth Minister Gerasimos Giakoumatos who argued “it would be better to perform hara-kiri”.
The rumors of early elections increased over the weekend, when the rift between coalition partners New Democracy and PASOK increased, due to the attempt of PM Antonis Samaras to appropriate the term “democratic faction” for his party. PASOK responded stating that “historically and ideologically, the democratic faction has been the ‘other’ faction in relation to ND”.
Discussion of early elections increased when it was announced that a Monday meeting between the government partners was postponed for Tuesday, shortly before the negotiations between the Ministry of Finances and the troika, for the 5th review, were set to begin. Mrs. Voultepsi told Mega Channel that “the [government’s] yearning is to complete the negotiation and move on to discuss the debt” in order to provide relief to the people.
The government spokeswoman insisted that the coalition will be able to amass the necessary 180 MP votes in the upcoming Presidential election in 2015, thus giving the government the opportunity to carry on it with its efforts “for yet another year”. Deputy Growth Minister Giakoumatos commented on ANT1 that the government has drawn “red lines” and will not back down on reducing taxes, providing relief and collective dismissals.
