Parliament Speaker Vangelis Meimarakis’ insistence for debate on a referendum for the part-privatization of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) has caused friction with the government. Mr. Meimarakis said that separate proposals made by different parties on calls for a referendum should be counted together. On her part, Government spokesperson Sophia Voultepsi disagreed with this as she believes that the proposals are not aligned.
The government believes that the announcement by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) is totally different to the one by Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) as it calls for a referendum on the entire legislation over the last decade for the liberalization of the energy market. Other proposals made also have a different line of thinking as the Democratic Left (DIMAR) wants the markets to be freed whereas the ultranationalist Golden Dawn wants the nationalization of all energy groups.
While Mr. Meimarakis doesn’t deny the different nature of the proposals, he believes that they all have common ground and can be counted together as the Constitution allows for a referendum on draft laws. He said that it was possible that the House’s plenary session – in recess for summer – could be convened by presidential decree for a debate on a referendum on the PPC sell-off.
On her part, Ms. Voultepsi insisted that the separate proposals shouldn’t be added up. “It is certain that they cannot be counted together,” she said.“So there is no real point to any further discussion.”
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