Venizelos and Papaioannou clash over receipts

Although the Cabinet meeting lasted only for a short while, as the plan for employment redundancy was not ready, and was postponed for Sunday, the climate between ministers was quite tense and squabbles were not avoided.

The occasion this time was the issue of receipts, which the Finance Ministry had contradictory positions on, with Mr. Evangelos Venizelos eventually stating that the new regime will only apply from 2012.

Justice Minister Miltiadis Papaioannou openly and strongly criticized Mr. Venizelos on his handling of the issue, saying the latter cannot have a “I do and then I undo” attitude, as this behavior will damage the whole government.

This remark infuriated Mr. Venizelos, who reacted instantaneously and personally attacked Mr. Papaioannou, whom he accused of creating false impressions, and defended his handling of the situation.