Papademos’ government in trouble once again

Aftershocks are being recorded in the government due to the urgent meeting for 10:30 am between LAOS president George Karatzaferis and the members of his party, and especially the ministers participating in the government, to decide whether the party will continue to support it.

Meanwhile, in response both to the new measures by the IMF and the Troika for the signing of the new loan agreement and the legislation for prisons, great concern looms over ND, given that Finance minister Evangelos Venizelos issued an ultimatum yesterday about the finalisation of the measures by February 6 at the latest, which is the meeting day of the Eurogroup for Greece.

It is characteristic that since Monday evening ND sources have been saying that today will be a crucial day for the future of Papademos’ government.

It is also indicative that the president of LAOS noted that the PM asked him to take the necessary steps to prevent damage to the cohesion of the government and that from there on it would be his own responsibility to consult with party leaders on the issues that are causing friction.

As the main causes for his withdrawal, Karatzaferis presents a number of provisions of the Justice ministry, such as the bill for the decongestion of prisons that provides for the release even of those convicted of felonies, the bill on drugs and even that of a fair trial that converts immigrant smuggling from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Justice minister Miltiadis Papaioannou talks about "political expediencies" in which he will not participate. However, shortly before the passing of the bill on prison relief, he made a number of changes including the removal of the regulation which allowed for parole procedures for those who have committed felonies and were sentenced to imprisonment from 5 to 10 years. "This is a fallback in the context of the democratic dialogue. I will not be the one to put the government coherence into question."

This way Papaioannou satisfied the requests of ND and LAOS members and ultimately the bill was passed in principle and on articles by PASOK, SYRIZA and the Democratic Left, while the Communist Party simply said "present."