Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-11-03
CONTENTS
[01] SYRIZA leader asks president to convene party leaders' council
[01] SYRIZA leader asks president to convene party leaders' council
ANA-MPA -- Main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) president
Alexis Tsipras was received on Monday by Hellenic Republic President
Karolos Papoulias and asked him to convene a council of the political
party leaders in order to agree on a date for early general elections,
before the election of a new Greek president by parliament and before
a new agreement is reached with the country's lenders.
Tsipras said that the political party leaders' council will also explore
the potential for an agreement on who will be the new president to ensure
that he will be elected with a strong majority in parliament.
The SYRIZA leader underlined that these two moves will send a message
in the country and abroad that the political powers may have different
plans for the country but this does not stop them from reaching an
understanding.
"The country needs stability to proceed with the democratic process in
an orderly manner, with unity and not in conflict, and present to the
people two plans namely, continuation of the same policy or negotiation,"
Tsipras said.
He accused the prime minister of leading the country to prolonged tension
until the election of the new president, despite the fact that it does not
have the majority in parliament to elect a new president of the republic,
noting that "this is a destabilising choice".
Papoulias is later scheduled to receive Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
at 17:30 after the swearing in of newly appointed Defence Minister Nikos
Dendias and Development and Competitiveness Minister Costas Skrekas, who
took over the portfolio from Nikos Dendias after the latter transferred
to the defence ministry. Dendias took over the defence portfolio from
Greece's new European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, who has now
taken charge of Migration and Home Affairs in the new European Commission.
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