Venizelos: We want a president, but we are not afraid of general elections

The president of PASOK spoke to his parliamentary team

The framework to achieve broad consensus in the third and final vote on the election of the President of the Republic was described by Mr. Evangelos Venizelos during the meeting of the Parliamentary Group of PASOK.

The party leader showed that the “package” for a possible cooperation with opposition forces is an agreement on election of the President of the Republic and joint negotiation with partners. He stated that on his part, he is “open to discuss everything”, leaving open all possibilities of an agreement for a date for national elections in 2015, and setting up a government of national purpose.

Addressing all parties and mainly the opposition, he said: “We are waiting until the third round of Presidential elections on December 29th for MPs and parties of the democratic environment to link the election of a President with the critical negotiations and the establishment of a national negotiation team, and we are open to discussion with all of them, because we are interested in the national interest”.

He noted that he considers a possible recourse to the polls due to a failure of electing a president as “harmful”, but he clarified that he is “not afraid of elections”.

Addressing his MPs, he asked them to maintain unity within the party and that the party will “Act as a guarantor of stability, after elections are done with”.

“We are in a state of preparedness for elections, although we keep our hopes up for the sense of responsibility to prevail. Our attitude remains the same: Cooperation”, said Mr. Venizelos.