Just a few days after voting against Greece’s omnibus reform bill, former Greek prime minister and PASOK leader George Papandreou has further distanced himself from the government by urging PASOK members to exit the coalition led by conservative New Democracy under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
During the conference “Ideas Lab 2014”, organized by the think tank CEPS in Brussels and attended by the former Greek PM, Papandreou told journalists that “elections always will exist” after being reminded that an eventual exit of PASOK from the coalition would cost the government its parliamentary majority, automatically invoking new elections.
“My statement still stands,” Papandreou said in reference to his prompt to PASOK.
Upon being asked whether a possible withdrawal of PASOK from the government would lead the country into a a new cycle of electoral adventures, the former PM said: “Election cycles will always exist and populism isn’t going to prevail constantly if we stand by our principles and can defend what is right.”
Papandreou described the issue as a matter of democracy, refrained however from making a reference to the domestic political scene, mentioning that his only interest is seeing Greece succeed and helping in this direction.
On Friday, Evangelos Venizelos, after meeting with Samaras, sent a clear message to Papandreou, saying: “Nobody can undermine the stability of the government,” and added: “Within the government, PASOK serves the role of a progressive pole and is very important for the national strategy.”
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