In the meeting, the government’s general secretary Panagiotis Baltakos, the PM’s associate advisor Chrysanthos Lazaridis, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Charalambos Athanasiou, former Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the secretary of New Democracy’s Parliamentary Group Athanasios Bouras and the President of Parliament’s Ethics and Transparency Committee Anastasios Neratzis were present, who, after extensive discussion on the controversial bill, they decided that the current legislation (Law 927/79, article 79, paragraph 3 of the penal code) is adequate to deal with racism and that New Democracy will not vote  statutory offense “which would violate the constitutionally protected principle of freedom of expression”.

They concluded that “any potential improvements are possible and desirable” and claimed that a great proportion of scientists have been skeptical about Minister of Justice Antonis Roupakiotis’ bill.

According to media reports, the bill would outlaw incitement against people because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and impose jail sentences of up to six years on offenders, according to reports.

MPs would not be excluded and parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if their leaders publicly denied the Holocaust, took part in racist attacks or used Nazi salutes or symbols in parliament.

According to media reports, the bill would outlaw incitement against people because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and impose jail sentences of up to six years on offenders, according to reports.

MPs would not be excluded and parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if their leaders publicly denied the Holocaust, took part in racist attacks or used Nazi salutes or symbols in parliament.

Parliament’s Lawmaking Committee convened earlier this week and found that that anti-racism law is not in conflict with the Constitution. However, it was noted that certain essential terms regarding the law need to be better defined and clarified (such as “hate”, “genocide” and “ethnicity”).

According to protothema.gr, PASOK and the Democratic Left support it as it stands and SYRIZA agrees with it but it stumbles upon strong reactions by ND, Golden Dawn and KKE. ND and Maximos Mansion disagree with the bill and the arrangements for dealing with the racist action of Golden Dawn.

The ND’s argument is that the very harsh provisions may result in the opposite effect and reinforce Golden Dawn. Also, according to enet.gr, New Democracy officials concluded during a meeting that Greece has had anti-racism legislation since 1979.

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said that the country has an international obligation to vote for the anti-racism bill, which is “an essential measure to protect a democratic state ruled by law”, criticising the delay in submitting the bill to parliament and stressing that “any outstanding issues must be immediately dealt with by the three coalition leaders”.

Democratic Left officials have called on New Democracy to “leave the procedural tricks and agree to submit the bill to parliament for approval”.

Talks about Greece exiting the euro will end after critical votes in Parliament this week on new austerity measures, labor reforms and the 2013 budget, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said yesterday in a speech he delivered to the meeting of the ND parliamentary group.

“As soon as the new measures are passed and we get the critical aid tranche, liquidity will start again to feed businesses and households, uncertainty will end, sentiment will change and the fear of a return to the drachma will disappear,” Samaras told New Democracy MPs at a party meeting, Kathimerini writes.

The Premier had separate meetings with his coalition partners, in an effort to restore unity around the austerity package and 2013 budget to be put up for voting in Parliament on Wednesday.

Although Maximos Mansion appears certain that the measures will pass the critical vote next Wednesday, it is watching with concern the intraparty shocks in the government partners that are also reflected abroad, protothema.gr reports.

Prime Minister’s office told the paper with certainty that despite the refusal of DIMAR the measures will pass with the majority of ND and PASOK. They add that on Sunday, November 11, just one day before the crucial Eurogroup meeting, all three coalition parties will vote for the budget that traditionally has the character of a confidence vote. The negative impressions about DIMAR due to its rejection of the labour package will decrease outside the country as well by its vote on the budget.

In a clear message to the Democratic Left, Samaras said: “I can understand why some of those who have are on our side are having seconds thoughts. I understand that the next crucial steps are big and difficult, but they are worth the trouble. I am making a plea to everyone to proceed with us till the end.”

Sources close to the Premier said that contact with the coalition parties and the troika would continue until Wednesday’s vote, when the structural reforms will be put to vote, but it was unlikely that any major concessions would be made. Should Democratic Left fail to support the measures, there is a possibility it will reject the budget, which will be voted on late Sunday. This would likely lead to the party quitting the coalition.

Meanwhile, GSEE and ADEDY umbrella unions have called a general strike Tuesday and Wednesday. Fixed-track and other public transport services will be affected throughout the week as well. According to media reports, the Athens Metro will operate only on Wednesday.

Lawyers across the country are suspending activity for five days starting today, while prosecutors are extending their strike to November 18.

Municipal workers are expected to hold sit-ins at city halls, garbage truck depots and waste management facilities today.

Disruptions are also expected at Athens International Airport on Tuesday from a three-hour stoppage by air-traffic controllers, starting at 10 a.m.

A source told Reuters the troika felt a string of proposed measures worth about 2 billion euros, such as cutting public sector operating expenses, were too vague.

Sources told ANA, Samaras’ meeting with troika inspectors yesterday was “tough and sticky”. Finance minister Yannis Stournaras was present. He said afterwards that efforts were being made to convince the troika of the legitimacy of the government’s position.

It is understood that the details concerning the measures were not discussed. Rather, the talks focused on what is feasible and what is not feasible, with the government telling the troika that it cannot add any more austerity measures to the list it has already prepared. Sources said that the government must present a completed draft with 11.9bn euros in measures for 2012-2013 by next Friday’s Eurogroup meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, even if there is no prior agreement with the troika and of if the measures have not been unveiled to the public.

Sources confirmed that the troika were insisting on dismissals from the civil service, including the core public sector, which the government refuses, as affirmed after Sunday night’s meeting of the leaders of the three parties participating in the coalition government, ANA writes.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras meets again tomorrow with is coalition partners Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis, following the Premier’s meeting with ECB chief Mario Draghi in Frankfurt.

Coalition leaders need to agree on the new austerity package, which will include mainly cuts in salaries and pensions and public spending, and should be ready by the end of the week to be presented at the informal Cyprus Eurogroup.

Yesterday, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos met with the troika heads. After the meeting, Venizelos’ associates expressed their anxiety about the measures to be announced, namely those of EUR 2 billion rejected by the Troika. They stressed that if the measures proposed by Finance minister Yannis Stournaras are not accepted, salaries, pensions and allowances will be immediately affected, protothema.gr writes. The two “red lines” for PASOK are allowances for the disabled and horizontal cuts. They are still looking for counter measures, which in many respects coincide with those of the Democratic Left. PASOK reiterates that the discussion with the lenders had to begin from the extension of the fiscal programme and debt reduction.

Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis rejected 5 points in the package of measures: elimination of bonuses; elimination of seasonal bonuses; reduction of tax exemptions for special tax groups; increase of fares in public transport and elimination of university publications. He also analyzed in detail his own proposals for equivalent measures.

(1) No party should take the election results as an approval of its policies. The two so-called “mainstream” parties are largely to blame for the crisis. New Democracy fostered a clientelist state, presided over the exponential growth of the public debt in recent years, lied to the country’s European partners, flip-flopped over the acceptance of the bailout agreement and provoked both recent elections. Pasok largely introduced populism in Greek politics, presided over the expansion of an uncompetitive and unproductive public sector, lied to the Greek people about how much money was in the coffers and mismanaged the crisis on a monumental scale. Syriza, on the other hand, rode the body politic’s dissatisfaction and anger without proposing any realistic and feasible exit plan, incorporated Pasok’s populist narrative, intentionally muddling its own message and thus inheriting the socialists’ voters, and seemed ready to bet Greece’s continuing Eurozone membership on a toss-up. No matter which party might have come first on 17 June (in the event, New Democracy – but the argument would have been the same had Syriza come on top), the people’s verdict would not have been “steady as she goes”, but “shift your rudder”. Yet, one should always keep in mind that, as mentioned in another comment on al-Yunaniya, those who chose the Euro were not in favour of the Memorandum and those who voted against the Memorandum are not hostile to the Euro.

(2) Indeed, from the point of view of Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Frankfurt and Washington, the referendum on the Euro was answered in the affirmative. Every plebiscite on Europe in the last decade seems to have been a close call (a 51/49 verdict, so to speak). With a 62 percent participation, the Greek “referendary election” is legitimate beyond any reasonable doubt. If one adds the share of the votes acquired by parties that were outright in favour of Greece’s continued membership of the Eurozone (New Democracy, Pasok, Democratic Left, Laos and a coalition of small liberal parties) and assumes that this number equals the pro-Euro turnout in a formal referendum, one gets 51.37 percent of the expressed votes. This thought experiment of course should not (as explained above) presume that voters who chose Syriza or, even, Independent Greeks, are against the Euro – in fact Syriza promoted itself a pro-European force and assured everyone that its aim is to keep Greece in the common currency zone. If one adds, therefore, a large chunk of citizens who voted for these two parties, one gets the 70-80 percent of the body politic that declared itself in favour of the Euro in most opinion polls.

So Greeks realized their first task – to keep rowing, remain in the Eurozone, and not rock the boat, until an overall solution is found. The onus is now on the navigator (the Commission) and the engine room (Germany): if Brussels and Berlin continue to be intransigent and do not accept that something has to be done to alleviate the plight of the Greek population and a great lot has to be done to solve a crisis that is much wider and much deeper than a few profligate Greeks [whose economy is barely larger than 2 percent of the Eurozone’s] consuming too much – then the Eurozone will sink and it will all end in tears. The possible dangers are legion: the icebergs and icebanks from all over Europe, the tsunami that will be created if one or more Spanish regions go under, and the fabled giant rogue wave that most Italian mariners are afraid of…

Spyros A. Vretos is a Journalist and translator

In a book called ‘PASOK’ [Spourdalakis (ed.), 1998], it is argued that the political / electoral success of the socialist party in the 1980s relied on the fact that it managed to combine a left rhetoric, expressed through populist punch lines that sounded radical (against NATO and the then European Community), with the ability to come up with a governance competence that lasted from 1981 to 2004 (minus the 1989-1993 Mitsotakis administration interval).

Andreas Papandreou managed to combine demagogy with political realism. His legendary statement about the then European Community and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, loosely translated into “EC and NATO, both sides of the same coin” has been a major instrument of demagogy. Later on, PASOK government dismissed the anti-EC arguments that used to mobilise its supporters, started arguing for a Norway-type, special relation with the common market and finally ended up embracing the benefits of EU membership and the subsequent funds coming from the Support Frameworks.

In the last month or so, SYRIZA adopted a similar approach; it tackled May 6 election debate in a populist way, mounting the anti-austerity wave, attracting people from different political wings. Then it transformed its strong anti-EMU rhetoric into a crusade to change the EU, moving beyond the necessities of Greece, thus turning the Greek MoU debate into a debate for the future of Europe; essentially Tsipras avoids appearing specific as regards the core of Greece’s obligations, i.e. the loan agreement and the so-called MoU II. He curses Memorandum policies and promotes a “different route”, just like Andreas Papandreou used to blame the Right and promise the “third road to Socialism”.

Alexis Tsipras’ moves in the last 6 months have been quit effective. He is supported by some brainy political advisors and strategists as well as -rumour has it- Andreas Papandreou’s personal strategist Kostas Laliotis, who, while he issued an announcement to dismiss a right wing newspaper story that referred to his involvement, he appeared very generous in the way he complimented Tsipras’ close associates. It was almost as the leak was planted just to legitimize a meaningful announcement by PASOK’s enfant gâté.

Two weeks before the elections, Alexis Tsipras is turning heavier in his appearance, lowers the voice and stresses his words as an experienced leader, whose crowd keeps increasing. According to all indications, he will spend the remaining pre-election days investing on a leadership profile that will come in handy if the future of the country will be handed to him.

The climax moment could be the television debate with ND leader Antonis Samaras, that -in my opinion- could benefit the young politician, killing all hopes for the centre-right leader. But is seemed that New Democracy’s second thoughts have been wiser than the initial careless call that invited young Alexis to a beauty contest with his senior ND counterpart.

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Editor of AlYunaniya.com 

I do not have any secret information. However, a recent development made me longing for connecting some of the dots here, using the following key words: Samaras – New Democracy– TAXI unionism – Minister Voridis.

Greek political cyberspace is full of rumors, unfounded arguments and propaganda; especially in the last couple of years, during which anti-Memorandum politics explored extreme populism as a primary weapon. Dipping into these conspiratorial terms and using common sense as a spear to penetrate the secrecy of inner party politics, we could argue that the TAXI case was a game well played. Makis Voridis, a former LAOS MP and -in the minds of many people- second in command personality in the party, grabbed TAXI case from radical (and as proven more liberal) socialist Yannis Ragousis and maneuvered it in such a way as to keep the yellow cast happy. Three facts could be relevant: first, top TAXI unionist Thymios Lymberopoulos, head of the yellow fight has been an ND cadre, active in the hierarchy of the party, kicked out by Samaras to save face during the pro-Memorandum slalom, second Voridis joined ND, in a move that made LAOS leader talking about traitorous behaviour. Then, after a while, Lyberopoulos returned and shook hands with Samaras, joining the party again.

If the dots are connected right, then in-camera negotiations at the Maximos Mansion included a far more complex and multi-facet agenda, much of which referred to domestic partisan affairs, with party leaders negotiating the day after. Perhaps this could explain long nights and bizarre delays that exhausted foreign media correspondents and Greek citizens alike.

The recent TAXI bill caused zero reaction by the yellow mass, keeping the protectionism in effect. Well, this was the case until common sense kicked in and European Commission decided to put the record straight. “I could say that Greece is preparing for elections, but the law on taxis must be reviewed by the supervisory Troika,” said Amadeu Altafaj, the spokesman for the EU Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, ridiculing local magicians.

A couple of more incidents of travesty structural changes and EU Commissioners will offer to take control of the ministries, especially until the ballot boxes are closed on May 6 or any Sunday that will be declared as D-day when the negotiations are over.

It seems that the political cast in Greece does not voluntarily learn their lessons. Now, perhaps they should do themselves a favour and rethink their obsolete strategies, since a crash course on social responsibility could be profoundly painful; especially in a pre-election period, no matter how many tricks of the trade will be employed to raise the percentages.