New government in place — a start at least

Published on 21 June 2012 at 13:59

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It will be “a troika to take on the Troika”, headlines Ta Nea. The Greek government that emerged from the June 17 elections, and which will try to revisit the terms of the memorandum signed with the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF, is made up of three parties: New Democracy (right), led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Pasok (socialist), headed by Evangelos Venizelos, and the Democratic Left (Dimar) under Fotis Kouvelis.

“It is quite natural that June 20th is a very happy day in the life of Antonis Samaras,” comments To Ethnos

Against all odds, he managed to be sworn in as prime minister, something that represents the peak of success and is of course what every politician dreams of. (...) So strong was his desire that he swore the oath even before waiting for the list of ministers to be finalised, as if he was afraid that his coalition partners might change their minds and drop out at the last moment. That's the amusing part. There’s more seriousness ahead. Everyone thinks this government is shaky, and in view of these alliances, it is. But for now, and considering the nature of the Greek system, it is the only one capable of holding.

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Certainly, adds Kathimerini, “Greece finally has a democratically elected Prime Minister”, seven months after George Papandreou was replaced by the technocrat Lucas Papademos. The Athens paper notes, however, that “senior politicians from the higher echelons of Pasok and the Democratic Left will not participate in the front rows of government”, merely provide support to Parliament, and warns —

On the one hand it can be expected that the party leaders in the coalition will formulate policy on the basis of the past. What they should not forget though, is that this parliament is defined by extremes. This means that the percentage of power gained by the parties that form the opposition – from the left and the right – will correspond to the percentage of failure of the new government.

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