Acrimonious political rhetoric in parliament a sign of early elections?

ND leader Mistotakis challenges Tsipras to call early elections

The open and often acrimonious confrontation between the Greek coalition government (SYRIZA-ANEL) with major opposition party New Democracy during Tuesday night’s discussion in parliament over matters of corruption and conflict of interest could be a prelude to political developments, even early elections. Political pundits believe the Greek PM Alexis Tipsras’s choice to raise the tone of political rhetoric against his adversaries is a conscious strategic tactic, especially as a possible deal with the country’s creditors approaches. On his part, main opposition New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis threw down the gauntlet of early elections to the Greek PM amid a barrage of harsh criticism against Tsipras by the rest of the opposition parties in parliament. Responding to a remark by Tsipras where he said Mitsotakis would not lead his party to elections because he feared another defeat at the ballots, Mitsotakis promptly and clearly said ‘If you dare, lead the country to a fourth election and let’s see whether you are as lucky as the previous times’. All parties in unison blasted the government and Tsipras as incompetent and dangerous for Greece calling on him to step down and call for elections. Despite Tsipras’s threats throughout the past weeks that he would disclose specific names involved corruption from the Justice system, the general impression after the conclusion of the talks was that he failed to deliver on his promise.