Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met with  PASOK president Evangelos Venizelos, yesterday and talked about currentpolitical developments and the steps they should take. As it seems, the government decided not to proceed to a reshuffle at this point, while rejecting a change of the electoral law.

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said: “A government reshuffle requires a lot of preparation and we have to consider the obligations of our country’  Presidency over the EU as well”.

Mr. Venizelos referred to the issue by saying that “The reshuffle is, of course, one of the major political moves that the government can make but it cannot be done in an incoherent way. We will proceed to a reshuffle according to our political terms and the right moment”.

However, responding to a reporter’s question he said: “No, the end of the Greek Presidency is not the criterion for the government reshuffle in the typical sense of the term. However, we must take into account certain obligations that we have regarding the EU Presidency”.

Although the two leaders do not agree on the reshuffle and the electoral law change, they both agree that they should make certain moves so as to prevent the rising trend in favor of SYRIZA, the main opposition party.

Responding to a question Mr. Venizelos said that the Prime Minister and him did not go into an in-depth discussion about the next governor of the Bank of Greece but “we confirmed today the criteria which will be applied in the selection”.

When Mr Venizelos was asked about the change of the electoral law and the repeal of the 50 seats bonus for the leading party, he said: “We went through all the issues we are facing, including the programmatic agreement. I think these are enough for today,”.

It is clear that Mr. Samaras wants to “freeze” political developments and re-introduce economy to the political agenda, announcing initiatives of reparations for social injustices. Mr. Venizelos, though, seems to want to proceed quickly to the government reshuffle and launch major policy initiatives. However, the New Democracy MPs are worried about the climate created and push for immediate initiatives to avoid creating the impression to Greek people, that SYRIZA is a breath away from getting the power.

Mr Venizelos responding to a question on whether PASOK will have greater participation in the government after the reshuffle said: “PASOK is one of the two factors of the government, the one that guarantees stability, it represents progress”.