It’s Tsipras’ time

The time of SYRIZA president Alexis Tsipras to receive an exploratory mandate from the President of the Republic is here. He is expected to meet Papoulias at the presidential mansion at 2 pm.

The cooperation scenario with ND, did not fly as Tsipras told ND president Antonis Samaras that there is no common field of governmental cooperation between SYRIZA and ND.

“We believe that the electoral dilemma is the memorandum”, said the president of SYRIZA, addressing the mandated PM Antonis Samaras, when the latter asked Tsipras to cooperate in a national salvation government in order for the country to remain in the Eurozone and amend the memorandum.

“The memorandum was defeated. You want to support it, so we cannot work together”; thus Tsipras ended all talk of government cooperation between ND and SYRIZA.

According to information, as mandated prime minister the SYRIZA president plans not even to ask to meet with PASOK President Evangelos Venizelos.

The diametrically opposed views of SYNASPISMOS with New Democracy and PASOK on the memorandum remove even the possibility of a tolerance vote in SYRIZA if Tsipras and Fotis Kouvelis agree to form a government of the Left.

New elections?

An aversion in Tsipras’ statements, who is expected to be given a mandate to form a government later today, shows that the most likely scenario is new national elections.

“We appeal so that no new barbaric measures are taken until a new government is formed. Do not be tempted to create an artificial climate of extortion”, warned the SYRIZA president. Decoding the statement, it implicitly shows that the efforts to form a coalition government will not succeed. So currently the most likely scenario is that of re-elections in June.

How will SYRIZA deal with the exploratory mandate?

In the three days during which the exploratory mandate is in effect under the Constitution, Mr. Tsipras will seek to persuade the parties of the left that entered the House to form a “leftist” government. The Communist Party’s refusal to get involved is a given, so an impasse and the deadlock and impossibility to form a coalition government is a matter of hours.

Secure information indicates that during the three days Mr. Tsipras will meet only with Aleka Papariga and Fotis Kouvelis, and only in the case that there is an agreement will the SYRIZA president will he ask for a tolerance vote by Panos Kammenos. However, the SYRIZA president is not seemingly willing to meet with the Independent Greeks president face to face. Associates of Tsipras clarify that there is no chance of meeting PASOK president Evangelos Venizelos while in fact, a new meeting with Samaras has no bearing since it failed the first time.

The crucial question is how SYRIZA will handle its political opponents’ charge that the party’s refusal to participate will lead to an unmanageable non-government. In this “blame game”, SYRIZA will insist on its decision to form a Leftist government and will promote Tsipras' view that citizens in the Sunday elections downvoted the memorandum so he is not entitled to cooperate with the forces which committed to a policy that leads Greek people to misery.