Government Vice-President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos insisted on Saturday that a poor result for PASOK-backed “Elia” alliance in the upcoming elections would be damaging for the ruling coalition as a whole.

Speaking during a televised press conference for all local channels in Larisa, central Greece, Evangelos Venizelos stressed that “without the 30 PASOK MPs there is no government, no stability, no national prospect” and repeated that voters must cast their vote “with full knowledge of their responsibilities and the consequences”.

Replying to those who accused him of seeking to “blackmail” voters, Venizelos said that his accusers are the same people that would rush to raise an issue of government legitimacy after the elections. PASOK is raising the issue now, speaking clearly, and saying that the election result must not give the impression that the government is shaky and lead MPs to say that they cannot back legislation.
He underlined that the key wager in the upcoming elections was not whether New Democracy or main opposition SYRIZA would come first but whether government stability – in which PASOK is a key component – would be preserved.

“The government cannot limp along with no legitimacy. We either have a government that has the understanding, the tolerance of society, or we don’t. (…) If PASOK did not exist, nothing would exist,” Venizelos underlined.
At the same time, he appeared confident of a good result in the elections and that “the heart of voters belongs to the party,” adding that citizens don’t want elections, as the thought that stability might be disturbed scares them.