Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has reneged on his promise to initiate the process for general elections in Greece immediately after the second round of the local and regional elections held last weekend.
Government sources now say that Tsipras will visit the President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos next week to offer his government’s resignation, and that will mark the official beginning of the campaign.
Until this happens, the Parliament remains open for business. A host of last-minute bills are due to be debated and voted on this week, with the opposition claiming that they are a smokescreen for last-minute favors to be doled out by the SYRIZA government.
Speaker of the Parliament Nikos Voutsis confirmed on Tuesday that the Greek legislative body will remain open until June 10 or 13.
Prime Minister Tsipras had called for snap elections on July 7, after his party’s dismal showing in the European and local elections.
His SYRIZA party won less than 23.7 percent of the popular vote, compared with the opposition New Democracy Party’s 33.1 percent.
The governing party also suffered crushing defeats in regional and local elections, as it lost in 12 out of the 13 regions of the country.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
