"Everything will be fine unless we have a major surprise"

During the meeting with Central Macedonia MPs, the prime minister tried to lift their spirits. He congratulated them on their boldness in voting for rough bills and promised he will not let Greece become China and India on the issue of wages. This was received as a sign of retreat, since the pre-election commitment spoke of Greece becoming the Denmark of the south. The overall climate was very heavy.

The MPs stressed they cannot stand this much longer, while people’s patience has already run out. Among other things, Papandreou said:

- "Everything will be fine unless we have a major surprise", without elaborating on this. He did not mention elections or  a coalition government.

- "Regarding labor contracts, we will not become India”, he stressed, as he was handed a note from the labor minister with the Troika requirements.

- "We are neither neo-liberals nor statists; we stand by the citizens with the ancient Greek sense of the term".

- "We are concluding with changes to calm people down enough to make investments".

- "As ex-prime minister he has autonomy”, Papandreou said about Kostas Simitis.

Finally, he received harsh criticism about Elias Mosialos and what he said about the benefits of MPs.