Merchant Marine Minister Miltiades Varvitsiotis and Deputy Infrastructure and Transport Minister Michalis Papadopoulos have signed a decision paving the way for the country’s first hydroplane strip at the Ionian island of Corfu.
The strip, which is to be operated by the island’s port authority, will be able to serve Greece’s first fleet of hydroplanes and improve connections between the island and mainland Greece.
The aim of the initiative is to boost tourism on the Ionian islands. Authorities hope to follow up with several more hydroplane strips on other islands in the Ionian and beyond.
To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com
The European Commissioner of Economic and Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici has favored a much lighter and less invasive supervision of the Greek economy. Mr. Moscovici, who recently visited Greece, argued that despite the huge public debt and the high rate of unemployment Greece has returned to financial growth and urged taking advantage of this development.
An agreement for the much-discussed emergency conditions credit line is likely to be approved and implemented after the current bailout program concludes. This credit line will be accompanied by supervision of the country’s finances, but to a lesser extent than before.
To read more, please visit tovima.gr/en
There was growing pressure on the government on Thursday, even from within its own ranks, to come up with some kind of proposal that might bring the political parties together and avoid early elections. A number of coalition MPs expressed their support for common ground to be found after the government’s candidate for president, Stavros Dimas, gathered just 160 votes in Wednesday’s ballot.
The threshold for electing Dimas was 200, as it will be in the second round on Tuesday. It will fall to 180 for the third vote on December 29.
New Democracy’s Dora Bakoyannis called for a “broad framework of consensus” to be formed. “What I am suggesting is that we could agree on a date for early elections next fall, so it is after the tourism season,” said the lawmaker. “This initiative must come from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos.”
PASOK MP Leonidas Grigorakos also called for an agreement. “We have to move toward a climate of consensus,” he said. “We all need to water down our expectations.”
To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com
A total of 160 positive and 135 negative votes managed to attract the nomination of Stavros Dimas in the first open vote for the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic held at 7:30 pm in the Greek Parliament. According to article 32 of the Greek Constitution, during the first and second ballots of the Presidential Election, a total of 200 votes are needed in order to successfully elect a new President.
Apart from the parliamentary groups of coalition government partners New Democracy and PASOK that count 155 MPs, five more MPs voted in favor of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ nominee, Dimas. The five are Spyros Lykoudis, Grigoris Psarianos, Giorgos Ntavris, Christos Aidonis and Katerina Markou.
Amongst those who voted negative, apart from the opposition parties’ parliamentary groups (SYRIZA, ANEL, KKE, DIMAR and Golden Dawn) were independent MPs Byron Polidoras, Vassilis Kapernaros, Petros Tatsopoulos, Mimis Androulakis, Niki Founta, Vassilis Oikonomou, Chrysoula Giatagana, Panagiotis Melas, Rachel Makri, Theodoros Parastratidis, Markos Bolaris, Theodora Tzakri and Giannis Kourakos, some of whom were expected to vote in favor of Dimas. Emerging from the Parliament after the procedure’s completion, Melas underlined that on the remaining two ballots, he might change his vote and vote “Yes.”
Absent on the first ballot was ANEL’s Kostas Giovanopoulos, whose absence is considered meaningful, as it might leave the possibility open to vote in favor of Dimas in the following ballots. Also absent were the two former Golden Dawn MPs, Stathis Boukouras and Chrysovalantis Alexopoulos, who were expected to vote “Yes,” independent MP Giorgos Kasapidis, who earlier today lost his father and was also expected to vote in favor of the new President, and SYRIZA MP Anna Chatzisofia.
To read more, please visit greekreporter.com
By Aggelos Skordas
The public sector trade union ADEDY has announced a walk and demonstration for Wednesday, demanding that dismissed employees be reinstated in the posts, that the suspension legislation be abolished and that the public institutions and services that were abolished as a result are allowed to operate again.
As such, ADEDY has called for public sector employees to participate en masse in the panattic walk out, which come into effect at noon and last until the end of the day. A demonstration will also take place at 1pm at Klafthmonos Square, followed by a march to Parliament and the Ministry of Administrative Reform.
University employees join walk out
The administrative employees of the universities have also announced that they will join ADEDY’s protest, in opposition to the suspension measure which has had a profound effect on their sector.
To read more, please visit tovima.gr/en
Just 160 MPs backed the government's candidate for president, Stavros Dimas, in the first of three votes on Tuesday. Dimas had been expected to draw at least 161 of the 200 votes he needed but indpendent lawmaker Panayiotis Melas voted «present.» He was one of 135 lawmakers who voted «present» - there is not a «no» vote in the presidential ballot.
Five MPs, including two former Golden Dawn deputies, were absent. Four of the absentees were independents, one from SYRIZA.
The next ballot will be held at noon on Tuesday. The threshold will be 200 votes again. It will fall to 180 for the final ballot on December 29.
To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com
The European Union's top economic official praised Greece's reform efforts during his official visit to Athens, in a sign of support for the pro-bailout coalition government before a presidential vote that could trigger its collapse.
Such effort has been made by the Greek authorities that is bearing fruit now. It is a pity not to go on," EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters after a meeting with the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
"We can say that huge progress (on implementing reforms and restoring the public finances) has been made. The largest part of the effort has been made," said Moscovici, whose two-day visit is seen as a show of solidarity with Samaras.
To read more, please visit thetoc.gr/eng
With only a couple of days to go ahead of the first of three possible parliamentary votes to elect Greece's new President, and all eyes are on independent lawmakers and the DIMAR and Independent Greeks MPs.
The vote will take place this Wednesday, December 17, at 7 p.m. and so far only about 10 parliamentarians outside the coalition have said they will back the government's candidate, Stavros Dimas. This has led many government sources to suggest that 165 MPs will be a good starting point for this Wednesday' s vote, secretly hoping the support could get to 170.
The coalition needs a two-thirds supermajority majority – equivalent to 200 MPs out of the 300-member assembly – for its candidate, Stavros Dimas, to be elected in the first round. If it fails to do so, a second round will be held after five days, on December 23, also requiring 200 votes. A third and final round of voting will be held on December 29, but this time the required majority will drop to 180 lawmakers, which is the government's target.
If the presidential elections fails, the parliament has to be dissolved within ten days and a snap election will be held as early as 25 January or 1 February. So far opinion polls suggest the snap election would be won by main opposition party Syriza.
To read more, please visit thetoc.gr/eng
By Anna Zarifi
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is set to get personally involved in the process of trying to convince independent and opposition MPs to elect Stavros Dimas as president, Kathimerini understands. The task of contacting the lawmakers has so far been left to State Minister Dimitris Stamatis, Samaras’s adviser Chrysanthos Lazaridis and Health Minister Makis Voridis.
However, Samaras will now become involved in the process, either meeting or phoning MPs who the government believes might be prepared to vote for Dimas.
The coalition’s aim is to secure at least 165 votes in the first ballot on Wednesday and to then take stock of which lawmakers the coalition might be able to persuade to vote “yes” by the time the final round of voting comes around on December 29. The government needs 200 votes to elect a president in the first two ballots and 180 in the final one.
Realistically, this means that the coalition needs to garner support from roughly 15 of the independent MPs and about 10 deputies from Democratic Left and Independent Greeks. So far the number of lawmakers in this group who have clearly said they will back Dimas numbers around 10.
As the battle for MPs’ votes intensifies, the polarization between the two main parties – New Democracy and SYRIZA – also looks certain to grow. On Friday, however, it was comments from outside Greece that caused a stir. The controversy was caused when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker clearly stated his preference for the current government remaining in power rather then being replace by SYRIZA.
To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com
In a letter addressed to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Former President of the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) Stefanos Tamvakis noted that Greece should count on the 6 million Greeks abroad.
Tamvakis, as the last SAE president for six years, from 2007 to 2012, and honorary President of the historic Greek Community in Alexandria, invited Tsipras to utilize the Greek Diaspora’s resources, stating that Greeks abroad will stand by the government as allies in order to help the country exit the crisis.
Furthermore, Tamvakis stressed the need to establish a Ministry for Greeks Abroad, as well as the need to turn the General Directorate of Greeks Abroad into a General Secretariat. Meanwhile, he wrote about the postal voting issue and the need to reopen SAE.
To read more, please visit greekreporter.com
By Ioannou Zikakou