After Parliament failed to elect a new President of the Republic on Monday, the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will meet with President Karolos Papoulias at noon on Tuesday, where he will formally request the dissolution of Parliament and declared general elections.
The election period will begin as soon as Parliament is dissolved and will conclude on the 25th of January, when elections are set to take place. As such, certain restrictions come into play on Tuesday, such as the number of candidate appearances in the media.
With the elections only a few short weeks away, the political parties have began mobilizing and preparing election lists and ballots. SYRIZA held an informal first election campaign gathering on Monday afternoon, where party leader Alexis Tsipras raised the tone, indicating that the battle between SYRIZA and New Democracy will be divisive.
Regarding alliances, Mr. Tsipras is in touch with the leader of the Democratic Left Fotis Kouvelis in order to determine the extent of their cooperation. The possibility of DIMAR officers being on SYRIZA ballot lists is being examined, with decisions expected later as the parties debate such possibilities.
Meanwhile, the government Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos is troubled by the intention of former PM Giorgos Papandreou to form a new party, which bring further division to PASOK.
