Feverish meetings ahead of vote of confidence on Tuesday

Key dates: 3 p.m. gov’t meeting on Saturday; PM A. Tsipras’ speech at 7 p.m. on Sunday; Vote of Confidence at midnight on Tuesday

A government cabinet  meeting is taking place at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Matters to be discussed include various policy statements by Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) deputies in their new posts. They will outline issues to be covered in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ speech at 7 p.m. on Sunday. The main focus will inevitably be on the Gordian knot of Greece’s economy as the EU noose tightens with pressure placed on the Greek government to sway from its anti-austerity stance.

Just two weeks in power, and already various proposals aimed at setting the tone for the new government have already been discussed. Ministries are examining the funds available with meticulous expenditure tags attached to each proposal.

Tsipras will address Parliament on Sunday afternoon. There will be three full days of discussion before Tsipras’ concluding speech and vote of confidence in a roll-call vote scheduled for midnight on Tuesday.

Another meeting of SYRIZA’s Parliamentary group, takes place at 5 p.m. on Saturday to discuss current issues and exchange viewpoints as Greece enters its eleventh hour of negotiations with partners. The Finance Ministry has already started to outline the measures that will be presented by Greece’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis at the Eurogroup conference on February 11.

According to a cover page story by Efimerida ton Syntakton, the program will be reduced by 2 bln euros in relation to the announcements made.