The govt will be one “of special purpose and limited time” says Samaras

On Monday morning, high-ranking New Democracy officials met at the headquarters of their party in order to discuss the political and communicative frameworks within which they will be able to justify the party’s support of the present government.

Many were the participants, among them present and past ND ministers such as Michelakis, Markopoulos, Pavlopoulos, and Varvitsiotis.
 
The president of the party Antonis Samaras made clear that ND supports the coalition government, as things had reached a dead end because of Papandreou’s handlings and the fact that the stability of the country’s relations with the EU was at stake.

Furthermore, the defense line of the ND party is based on the fact that the “government will be one of special purpose and limited time”. In particular, ND wants the new government to finish with the remaining issues so as to stabilize and ratify the 26th October deal, get the bailout package and lead the country to the 19th February elections. Most importantly, ND will not pass any extra austerity measures during the short life of the new interim government.

For the moment, they don’t wish people from the party to participate in the upcoming scheme and the name of Stavros Dimas - who is in the spotlight with many saying that he might be the vice president of the government - is still unverified information. Anyhow, on their part, they have asked that chiefs in 5 crucial positions be changed: those in the ministries of Internal Affairs, Justice, Public Order, National Defense and the head of the coalition government.
 
Based on present information, Samaras has not agreed to the participation in the scheme of LAOS party leader, Yiorgos Karatzaferis, and Democratic Alliance head, Dora Bakoyanni – herself an ex-ND member.