Samaras wants elections by the end of March

Speaking at the meeting of the Executive Secretariat of the party regarding their planning in view of the elections, Samaras said that his intention is to facilitate the restoration of viability of the Greek debt, which means that the PSI will have to be completed to sign the new loan agreement. ND agrees on the general objectives of the next three years for the annihilation of the deficit, the reduction of the debt and the strengthening of the competitiveness of τηε Greek economy.

His intention is to assist the Papademos government to reach its goals and definitively solve the sustainability problem of the Greek debt, but "if people try to put everything as a condition in this short transition period, we warn them that it will not be done."

"If the PSI is completed, then we need one month for the loan agreement," he said, adding that elections can come by the end of March.

"If some people try to stall, they will have to deal with us," said the ND chairman, and added: "If people want to play party and intraparty games we will not participate. We want everyone to keep to the targets we all set together. The Greek people will have the chance to decide on the government which is to get them out of the crisis. Those who fear the judgement of the Greek people must realise this: they cannot prevent political legitimacy and the elections this place is in dire need of."

He was categorical on the issue of pensions: "We have committed ourselves to restoring low-level pensions, and we can not accept new harsh cuts."

He also referred to the issue of supplementary pensions: "They were cut twice and now probably for the third time, and tomorrow maybe once more, and they don’t even know how they will be affected by the bond haircut. We need to see the issue of sustainability of pension funds as a whole, mainly the supplementary funds, including after the haircut, which affects their revenue."

He also mentioned the deregulation of the trucking profession which will be discussed tomorrow at the cabinet, saying that "we have no objection to speeding up the implementation of the law that has been voted on, as long as the correct conditions are applied. Otherwise, it will only mean the dissolution of an entire branch of the economy, and not its deregulation. And it will be delivered to companies from other countries and not just the EU, something that is not happening anywhere in Europe."