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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-07-24
CONTENTS
[01] Government will not 'spring' elections without warning, gov't
spokeswoman says
[01] Government will not 'spring' elections without warning, gov't
spokeswoman says
ANA-MPA -- The government will not "spring" elections at the last
minute, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said on Friday during
an interview on SKAI radio. If there were surprises, these will not
come from the Greek government, she added.
She said that the negotiations between the Greek government and the
institutions on a new bailout for Greece were scheduled to conclude on
August 18, at which time the final agreement will be brought to Parliament
for ratification. Gerovasili also announced that the government has sent
a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) requesting assistance.
Asked about the IMF's formal demand that its staff be allowed to visit
ministries and talk to ministers, Gerovasili said that this "technical
obstacle" was being discussed, while the Greek side had proposed that the
talks be held with the Greek team's lead negotiator George Chouliarakis
and staff at the General Accounting Office. On the internal strife
within SYRIZA, Gerovasili said she understood the difficult dilemmas
facing MPs but stressed that there were specific dates and specific votes
when all involved will have to take responsibility for what they decide.
"We can't leave everything until later. However the open collective
processes of SYRIZA, those foreseen and that correspond to the tone and
morality of the Left, are probably best left for later," she added. She
did not, however, entirely rule out the possibility of holding such
discussions ahead of the crucial vote. She admitted that the stance
adopted by former minister Panagiotis Lafazanis was a "political issue".
"There are two different plans with two different strategies cohabiting
in one political organisation," she pointed out. While these differences
had to some extent existed before, she added, it became a problem when
in government and called to implement a policy. One way forward out of
the impasse, she noted, was to agree that implementing measures that
the government disagreed with was a necessity and an obligation, then
look for ways to less their impact as much as possible. Asked whether
Parliament President Zoi Konstantopoulou would be presiding when the
final agreement negotiated with Greece's lenders came to Parliament,
Gerovasili replied "obviously" and said it would be up to Konstantopoulou
to decide whether she would preside over that session.
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