There is no question of changing the electoral law, according to the PM’s office, putting a stop to the debate opened by statements of PASOK president Evangelos Venizelos.
The Prime Minister’s partners put an end to the scenarios of a cabinet reshuffling which began to circulate in journalist and political offices since EU elections day, stating: “Government reshuffles happen, and they will continue to happen, but it is not going to at this time”. The associates of the PM added that the President’s term has not yet run out, and there are issues concerning agriculture and immigration that new ministers could not handle due to lack of time of being brought up to speed.
Even though the result is not what Mr. Antonis Samaras wanted, he is determined not to make “hasty” moves under the pressure of first impression, as he believes that “the government has withstood any blows and there is no issue of being overthrown or going to early elections”. The government team states that “it is SYRIZA’s political defeat that they lost by 150,000 votes in 2012. Moreover, 19% of the people changed their views, so SYRIZA may have gained a small percentage, but it lost 2012’s voters, which means that its policy did not satisfy them”.
They attribute “Mr. Tsipras’ choice to visit the President as an effort to stir things up and possibly face criticism from within his party” and add that “such actions are unconstitutional and dangerous”. On the issue of the electoral law, they say: “We will not play games with the stability of the country. When national elections come about, if the people choose Mr. Tsipras then he is free to form a government and govern, but we will not create any conditions for him to participate in governmental ‘haggling’. Besides, we will still be the top party during nationals, since that is what polls were stating at the time when SYRIZA was coming first in EU election polls”.
In this context, the Prime Minister is determined to proceed with his designs of prioritizing the economy. Through the study of results, he obtained conclusions that will guide individual corrective actions, without changing the basic course. A radical change in fiscal policy, anyway, would cause anger by our European partners and rupture relations, jeopardizing the negotiations for debt sustainability, which is the next national goal.
The PM’s office is still angry at Mr. Charis Theocharis on failures of fiscal policy. “You cannot treat a high-income tax evader the same way that you would treat people that due to the fiscal crisis, have fallen into poverty and have lost the ability to contribute”. They office insists that Mr. Theocharis’ days are numbered, and that this will be coupled with improvements in tax policy, without jeopardizing revenue collection.
The Prime Minister believes that the government can withstand the blows. The World Cup begins in two weeks, and summer holidays are close behind. Political movements he would want to perform, he will be saving for later, in the prospect of forming a “presidential majority” with which he intends to overcome the hurdle of the President of the Republic elections. He has a series of difficult bills to bring to the House. In this particular issue, sources indicate that the government already has 154 votes, with Mr. Loverdos, and Mr. Aidonis, while there are some from the group of independent MPs. He would, of course, want to expand his parliamentary majority, but as a partner of his said: “We will not be intervening in the processes that other parties are going through, in order to acquire MPs. If some of them want to support the government, they are welcome”.
In conclusion, the government headquarters has been in contact with MPs from DIMAR and ANEL parties, but they will let things settle in both parties before they make any moves. For now, the people closest to the PM state that it is not the PM’s intention to call for an emergency meeting. “It’s just some people want to create images of in-party turmoil”, they added.
