According to protothema.gr, yesterday evening, and after many consultations on Greek Constitution and parliamentary Standing Orders, the majority (ND, PASOK, DIMAR) decided that the process be done in one sitting with 3 separate votes -one for each proposal- and a total of 7 polls.

The coalition has proposed that only former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou be probed in connection with the handling of the Lagarde list following the revelation by prosecutors last month that the names of three of his relatives were removed from the list, Kathimerini writes.

SYRIZA wants Papaconstantinou’s successor Evangelos Venizelos, who leads PASOK, to be investigated along with the former. And the two smaller opposition parties, Independent Greeks and the Golden Dawn want former premiers George Papandreou and Lucas Papademos to be probed too. It is expected that, for each of the votes, MPs will be given ballot papers with the names of all four politicians and the charges they would face.

The participation of MPs in all 3 votes is not mandatory, but New Democracy says “we will participate to the end. There is no question of withdrawal.”

The process is expected to will begin at 10 am and the voting is expected at 6 pm.

The political frenzy surrounding the Lagarde list affair has resulted in limiting the parliamentary discussion to the process, to increasing or decreasing the number of ballot boxes and votes and losing the actual substance which is placing the blame where blame is due, political analysts have suggested.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said that “it is inconceivable that this was decided in the meeting of the three political leaders. The smooth functioning of parliament is being undermined and essentially we have a procedure that removes the secrecy of the vote. This has never happened before in the Greek parliament and reveals panic. Venizelos is self-incriminating himself by asking Samaras for protection. But at the same time he becomes his hostage.” Venizelos, on the other hand insists that “the perpetrator of this conspiracy against PASOK” is the main opposition party.

Finally, late yesterday tovima.gr wrote that SYRIZA is examining the possibility of withdrawing from the voting process if the majority insisted on its proposal for setting up seven polls.

This tactic, SYRIZA people maintain, waves the secrecy of the vote, in a way ‘protecting Mr. Venizelos, who main opposition would like to see investigated about his responsibility regarding the Lagarde list affair.

(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

According to opinion polls published until midnight Friday, when the ban of publication began, ND was leading with more than 25%, followed closely by SYRIZA, which has a strong crowd in Attica area (according to the latest poll by Kapa Research, SYRIZA leads in Attica with 26% vs. ND’s 22.9%) and in young voters (30.1% vs. 17.9%).

PASOK appears ‘blocked’ at the level achieved in previous elections (13.18%), since it seems unable to approach dissatisfied voters. A significant reduction of electoral strength is observed in the cases of Independent Greeks, KKE and Golden Dawn, whereas Democratic Left seems to record a small decline, or increase, depending on the poll. From the parties that on May 6 failed to reach the Parliament threshold, Re-Create Greece/Drasi seems the only party that could manage to enter the House.

Meanwhile, the debate between Antonis Samaras and Alexis Tsipras -which could play a key role in shaping the election outcome- has been canceled, allegedly due to a disagreement as regards the participating journalists.

SYRIZA said Alexis Tsipras wants a free televised debate that would cover all subjects, protothema.gr reports. They say that Antonis Samaras’ associates are seeking to lead the processes to a dead end in order to cancel the debate. In addition, they explain that their wish is for the debate to escape the narrow limits to which it were held in previous years and have a dialogue in which every political leader will be able to reply directly to his interlocutor or even interrupt him.

According to Kathimerini, ND claimed it had agreed with SYRIZA almost all the details for a Samaras vs Tsipras debate but that the leftists scuppered the deal by issuing two statements outlining their positions on the discussions. SYRIZA said it wanted two debates: one between Samaras and Tsipras based on the format of the French presidential debate and another between the leaders of all the parties, apart from Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn).

ND states that although the name of journalist Nikos Hatzinikolaou had been agreed on for carrying out the debate, suddenly SYRIZA tabled another journalist as well (Elli Stai). Earlier, SYRIZA had proposed conducting two debates, one between Samaras and Tsipras and another with the participation of all leaders except Golden Dawn’s N. Michaloliakos.

SYRIZA said: “after days of silence, ND finally decided to announce its pre-assumed decision not to conduct debates, fearing the visibility and contrast of its positions before the Greek people. This is a cowardly political stance…” There had been no agreement between the two parties since ND repeatedly looked for excuses and hid by postponing contacts between representatives of the parties, while it falsely leaked that an agreement had been decided upon.

In ALCO’s poll published in Proto Thema, ND gets 25.6%, SYRIZA 22.9%, PASOK 14%, Independent Greeks 6.4%, KKE 5.6%, Golden Dawn 4.6% and DIMAR 4.6%.

In a poll by Kapa Research published in Sunday’s To Vima newspaper, ND stands at 25.8% SYRIZA 20.1%, PASOK 13%, KKE 6.3%, Independent Greeks 5.4%, DIMAR 5.3% and Golden Dawn 5.2%.

In MARC’s poll published in Sunday’s ‘Ethnos’, ND gets 25.2%, SYRIZA 23.2%, PASOK 12.6%, Independent Greeks 6.6%, DIMAR 5.3%, KKE 4.5% and Golden Dawn 4.4%.

In MRB’s poll for Real News newspaper, ND leads with 23.3%, SYRIZA gets 22.2%, followed by PASOK 13.8%, Independent Greeks 7%, DIMAR 5.7%, KKE 5% and Golden Dawn 4%.

Finally, in a poll by VPRC for KONTRA TV channel, SYRIZA is leading with 28.5%, followed by ND 26%, PASOK 12.%, Independent Greeks 7%, DIMAR 7%, Golden Dawn 5.5%, Communist Party 5%.

Obviously, Samaras, Venizelos and Kouvelis needed no fortunetellers to forecast the glorious years Tsipras would have in front of him being in the main opposition, while the aforementioned trio would be consumed by the additional measures included in the second MoU. There would be no political peace, the left reaction would surge and soon the country would found itself once again in a dead-end.

Bottom line this is politics in Greece, especially when a weak 3-party coalition in the MoU years equals to almost the same (or less) power a strong party used to have in the years of prosperity.

So, what is going to be? Which approach is more suitable to describe the future of local politics? Is Greek electorate following the canoe paradigm, or we are in front of a SYRIZA sailboat effect, as a diplomat put in a recent gathering. Will things balance again after a strong sideward movement or Tsipras will become the youngest prime minister in Europe?

I used to argue that current gen of politicians is equally problematic as the one their mentors belonged to. So, a new leader in his thirties could make a difference. But again, in the case of Greece, new leadership should not emerge from the left. Not at the moment. The country cannot afford sailing the Left boat in unmarked waters. We need a coalition of the willing and a period of careful planning and courageous implementation of structural changes and wider modernisation moves to put our house in order.

All these are at stake once again in June 17. My view is that given the circumstances and the severe damages PASOK has suffered in May, the only anti-SYRIZA force could emerge from the centre-right that would cooperate with Venizelos’ party (a new name and branding strategy remain a possibility), use a new liberal centrist force as a glue (Drasi with Re-Create Greece) and keep Democratic Left as a backup plan for the future. Moreover, some Kammenos’ MPs could possibly return to ND nest, offering their support in a coalition, or as soon as the government puzzle is solved.

However, for the time being, the call for unity in the centre-right lacks the required dynamism as well as touch to society, since it focuses on Dora Bakoyannis’ and some LAOS’ MPs return, two moves that symbolically are reciprocally neutralized. Uniting the centre-right per se does not seem relevant to Greek people; especially when the country’s obligations to the MoU will lead to the introduction of 6 more tax hikes in the next few months, some of them -regrettably- arriving through the post before June 17.

What perhaps would be relevant to Greeks is a constructive approach to their problems, old and new, an ability SYRIZA lacks by default.

The majority of Greek citizens are looking for a rationale to avoid voting for Alexis; but old leaderships do almost nothing to give them a reason not to.

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Editor of AlYunaniya.com

A caretaker government to lead the country to new election polls will be appointed on Wednesday, according to the Presidency spokesman. “We’re heading to elections,” the spokesman told reporters.

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos put the blame on “those who coldly put their narrow partisan interests above national interest.” “Greek people on May 6, told us that they do not want elections again, they want a coalition government,” said Venizelos. He added: “PASOK lost the elections on 6 May. This meant that could influence things less than before the election. But since the day after, we had a responsible attitude. We asked to undertake a common national endeavor. Unfortunately this was not accepted.”

Venizelos noted that PASOK adopted Democratic Left leader Kouvelis’ proposal for a national unity government for a 2-year duration with the participation of SYRIZA. “We believed that there was a basis for a consensus”, he said. “The country will find its way. We will struggle from a basis, which is unfavorable for PASOK. This will happen if Greek citizens make a right choice. Let’s move towards a better situation; for God’s sake let’s not do worse. ”

“Some people, in reality, are struggling to lead the country out of Europe,” ND leader Antonis Samaras stated, underlining that he agreed to have a government without the New Democracy party “as long as we remain in the Eurozone”. In his speech after the meeting of political leaders, Samaras mentioned the turning point at which our country finds itself. “The country is going through its most critical moments after the junta. Greece is isolated” he said, underlining that “the fate of our children” is being determined in the elections.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras accused Samaras and Venizelos that they remain faithful to their commitments to Merkel and thereby made the formation of a government impossible. “Samaras and Venizelos, faithful to their signatures denied adopting our proposals and in substance posed a dilemma: Memorandum or elections” stated Tsipras. “They did not simply ask for our agreement but invited us to put our signature on measures of poverty and destitution. We resisted with all our strength and soul”, he stated and underlined that SYRIZA took the decision not to betray the hopes of the people. “The forces of yesterday which demolished society are looking for a second chance of survival, threaten and harass”, Tsipras said and added that they must be put into history’s limbo. “Now is the time to complete the great advance which took place on May 6th, to form a government of the Left, with enhanced strength”.

“My fellow Greeks, I did what I could,” said Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis to reporters after the meeting. “Some are leading the country to elections, based on partisan interests”.

According to media reports, the political leaders’ meeting was quite intense. Later on, ND cadres associated failure of talks with the ambition of Independent Greeks’ leader Panos Kammenos to take over the Premiership. Sources said there were strong words between PASOK and SYRIZA leaders.

Yesterday, a Hellenic Presidency announcement said that during yesterday’s meeting between President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos, the latter handed a series of scenarios to the President, amongst which demands were expressed in order Kammenos to participate in a national unity government.

Political leaders meet again Wednesday, 13.00 to discuss the formation of a caretaker government that will lead the country to elections.