Samaras will meet Venizelos and Kouvelis today

The consultations to form a government of national salvation will continue with Antonis Samaras’ meetings with Vangelis Venizelos at 12.00 pm and Fotis Kouvelis at 1.00 pm.

At a meeting yesterday the representatives of the three parties, New Democracy, PASOK and the Democratic Left, discussed the programmatic framework of a coalition government and discoverd that their views are very similar. Members of the three parties said that most of the issues regarding programmatic convergence have been agreed upon.

ND considers that the process should have been completed early Tuesday evening and in any case be closed as part of Samaras' exploratory mandate. It is strange but the obstacles do not arise from discussions between political leaders but by the processes within the parties, mostly in PASOK, and less in the Democratic Left. The ND leadership does not want to interfere in the internal affairs of other parties, but notes that the country is in a difficult situation and that a government should be formed immediately. However, if no agreement emerges as long as Samaras holds the mandate, the president of the Republic should give it to Alexis Tsipras, who has declared that he will not accept it. If Venizelos does not accept it either, then Karolos Papoulias will hold a meeting of political leaders. This is Venizelos’ desire, who wants to bring Tsipras to a tight spot either to participate in government - which is out of the question - or to blame him "because as the second party he does not assume the responsibilities allocated to him." The ND leadership does not like the fact that the formation of the government is linked to internal party debates and says that everything should be set aside as they are sending negative messages abroad.

There are no such problems within the ND. They believe that SYRIZA is out of the processes and have begun the debate on the people that will participate in the government formation. Samaras wants no more than 15 ministers and 20 deputy ministers, and to keep the ministries of Tourism and Shipping which he has pledged to reconstitute, and also of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Development, Interior and Public Order, which he will unify. He considers that as a parliamentary majority they must have the chair of the parliament too, which is claimed by Vangelis Meimarakis and Dimitris Avramopoulos. But yesterday Dora Bakoyannis said she would like this seat as well, as she "sacrificed" herself in favor of her brother Kyriakos, who is a candidate for a governmental position. Earlier though, Samaras had denied her the ministry of Finance, for which Dimas is always a contender interchangeably with the ministry of Foreign Affairs, also claimed by Dimitris Avramopoulos.

From the other parties and mainly from the Democratic Left, there seems to be a veto only on right-wing ND members such as Makis Voridis and Adonis Georgiadis, while ND vetoes members like Maria Repousi, who has been exposed in the past.