 |
|
| Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras reiterates determination to form leftwing government after the election (Eurokinissi) |
The goal of the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) is to form a leftwing government, its leader, Alexis Tsipras, has told the AMNA news agency.
He said he was certain that an upset in Sunday's general election will oblige the Communist (KKE) and the Democratic Left parties to drop their opposition to his proposals for a leftist government.
Tsipras said such a government would prevent the continuation of the Pasok-New Democracy coalition.
Unless the country's loan memorandum is "totally defeated", he said, "these elections will be as if they never took place" since the implementation of new austerity measures will begin on the day after the elections, May 7.
He also ruled out the participation of former ND deputy Panos Kammenos' Independent Greeks party in a leftwing government, noting that Kammenos was in essence advocating the ND positions that were subsequently abandoned by the ND leader, Antonis Samaras, when he voted in favour of the memorandum in November.
Tsipras further intimated that the outcome of the Greek elections would have an impact for all of Europe, saying that a turn to a democratic and social Europe is necessary.
He claimed that if German chancellor Angela Merkel had a vote in Greece, she would vote for Pasok and ND.
He also reiterated that Greece needs a constitution that enhances its national sovereignty. He said Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos' ideas on constitutional reform would lead to a "colonial" constitution. (AMNA, Athens News)
and....
|
| News bites @ 9 |
|
 | 2 May 2012 |
|
|
 |
|
| "No Nazis in parliament" reads this message, held by protesters at the May Day rally in Athens, 1 May 2012 (Reuters) |
1. VOTE COULD AFFECT EUROZONE M'SHIP The Pasok leader has said in a newspaper interview that the country's eurozone membership is not a certainty regardless of the outcome. "There are certain misconceptions that worry me: for instance, the misconception that whatever happens we are not going to leave the euro," Evangelos Venizelos told the Guardian. "The Greek people will have to give a clear answer as to whether it wants (to follow) a pro-European course, which is safe and responsible, or something else," he said in the article.
2. SAMARAS TARGETS DOLE QUEUESUnemployment can be halved within three years if the country adopts appropriate development measures, the New Democracy leader promised on Tuesday, in a speech to an indoor audience of employed and unemployed people in the eastern Attican town of Lavrio. Antonis Samaras described the reduction of unemployment as "our absolute priority" and said he could bring about growth rates of "nine percentage points of GDP" and would create "tens of thousands of jobs".
3. TSIPRAS SAYS VOTE A REFERENDUM Speaking at a party rally in Larisa, the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) leader, Alexis Tsipras, said that Sunday's elections are a "referendum", between a Pasok–ND coalition government or a " government of the Left" that will ensure "dignity [and] democracy". "Give us the exploratory mandate [to form a government] on May 6 … and we shall honour it," Tsipras added.
4. COMMUNISTS AT STEEL WORKS The Communist Party (KKE) held a May Day demonstration at the Hellenic Halyvourgia steelworks in Elefsina, where workers have been on strike for more than six months. Party leader Aleka Papariga said that on May 7, the day after the elections, the KKE "will be where it belongs, inside the popular majority". She said that her party will oppose whatever government emerges from the elections.
5. MORE SHAME Police on Tuesday released another eleven names and photographs of alleged prostitutes who have been diagnosed as being HIV positive. Ninety-two women were arrested in a sweep on Monday night and eleven (nine Greeks and two non-nationals) were found to be infected with the virus by doctors. Most of the women whose photos were published appeared to be in an advanced stage of drug addiction. The decision by prosecutors to allow police release the information, which includes the names of the women's parents, was widely condemned on social media.
6. MAYOR CALLS FOR BROTHEL REFORM The country's brothel laws are in dire need of reform, the mayor of Athens said on Tuesday, in comments that came amid a crackdown on illegal prostitution in which prostitutes have been diagnosed with HIV. "The daily revelations regarding conditions at brothels raise in a dramatic way the need for realistic and legal treatment of their operating conditions," Yiorgos Kaminis said. He argued that overly strict and outdated laws for the licensing of legal brothels have given rise to scores of illegal sites where health checks are either ignored or carried out infrequently.
7. MAY DAY RALLIES Several thousand protesters joined May Day marches in central Athens, as organizers said they hoped action Europe would pressure the EU to change course. The heavily policed rally was generally peaceful, but several dozen youths briefly clashed with riot police at Korai Square, where they attacked election kiosks. "Today we honour the workers who were pioneers and gave us the eight-hour week," icivil service union (Adedy) leader Costas Tsikrikas said. "Policies being forced on us by the European Union are turning us back a century. A coordinated effort in Europe will help change the balance of forces so that governments invest will in growth and move away from parasitic capitalism".
8. UNHCR VISITS CAMP The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that while conditions at a newly opened detention centre for undocumented migrants in western Attica are better than existing holding centres, it has strong reservations at how migrants are being brought there. A UNHCR delegation visited on Tuesday the centre at Amygdaleza, were 56 migrants are detained. Their number is expected to grow to 1,500 by May 15. The body said it is concerned at how police are conducting mass arrests of undocumented migrants and the difficult in accessing asylum procedures in Greece.
and..
|
| Press Watch, May 2 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| The final battle for the undecided vote, which one newspaper put at 15 percent, figured prominently on today's front pages |
The final battle for the undecided vote, which one newspaper put at 15 percent, figured prominently on the front pages of Athens dailies, just four days before the general elections. At the same time, papers reported that political leaders were stepping up their attacks on each other.
The most intense vendetta was between Panos Kammenos’ Independent Greeks and New Democracy. ND has for days been unleashing attacks on Kammenos, on the grounds that his ND splinter party discussed the prospect of cooperation with the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza), which is anathema to many rightwing voters.
ND leader Antonis Samaras has been hammering Kammenos and extreme right Golden Dawn, the press reported, in order to stem the flow of voters to parties further to the right.
The dailies reported that both Pasok and ND are fighting to lure back their 2009 voters, who fled to other parties in the interim.
The press also focused on the austerity measures that must be decided immediately after the elections. The pro-ND daily Eleftheros Typos reported that Premier Lucas Papademos’ office leaked a list of 77 tasks that must be completed by June, about a month after the next government is sworn in. Of course, none of the tough measures and tasks has been discussed by the candidates in the campaign, as some dailies noted.
“The commitments that are awaiting [implementation]” reported Kathimerini’s headline on the commandments of the troika that were stressed by the premier’s office. The commitments include deciding on 11bn euros in budget cuts for 2013-14, cutting wages for special categories of civil servants, merging courts, selling off the lignite power plants run by the Public Power Corporation (DEH), and the opening of closed professions.
“Exercises to rally ND and Pasok” read another front-page title. The report said that Samaras – just as Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos – will stress the dangers that lie ahead if the elections do not produce a solid, stable government. Today, however, most Greeks believe that it was decades of one-party rule led the country to disaster.
“Message from the troika with Papademos as ‘announcer’” declared Eleftheros Typos’ headline, regarding Greece’s commitments under the bailout memorandum. “Education a luxury, according to Kammenos” read another front-page title. The Independent Greeks leader told a journalist that it is a luxury to discuss a programme on education at a time when the country is being handed over to its creditors.
“The 15% puzzle: the campaign for undecided voters” declared Ta Nea’s headline. The story reported that Pasok hopes to lure back one third of those who voted for the party in 2009. “Sudden war with the troika” read another front-page title regarding a spat between Health Minister Andreas Loverdos and Matthias Mors, the European Commission’s man in the troika. Loverdos reportedly replied sharply to Mors’ demand that all insurance funds, without exception, be placed under the new national health care provider (EOPYY).
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment