The three political leaders decide on a coordinating committee

In view of Tuesday’s Eurogroup, prime minister Antonis Samaras saw PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos and Democratic Left chairman Fotis Kouvelis in separate meetings on Monday afternoon.

As it became known, the three political leaders decided to create a government coordination committee. The committee which resulted from DIMAR’s proposal, confirming protothema.gr, will be set up after the summit and will have the following responsibilities:

a)     monitoring the implementation of decisions by political leaders

b)    solving intragovernmental and interministerial problems

c)     informing parties about governmental decisions

Reportedly, Venizelos and Kouvelis did not discuss the impending reshuffle with the prime minister.

Antonis Samaras specifically discussed current affairs with Venizelos, such as the recapitalization of banks, cuts in benefits of people with disabilities, shipyards and road axes.

Lastly, all three sides say there is no question of redundancies in the public sector and that the Troika e-mail has already been rejected.

Evangelos Venizelos: Decision time for Greece’s partners

"Greece has fulfilled its obligations in full with the decisions it made concerning the last package of very difficult measures," the PASOK president said after the meeting with the prime minister, stressing that now is the time for definitive and reliable decisions by Greece’s institutional partners.

Venizelos added that neither Greece nor the Eurozone can withstand further delays, and that the problem is not Greek but clearly European.

"We, as a country, need a new start. And I am certain it will come in the following days. Here in Greece, those who invest in the dead-end or the death of the country, for their own partisan or business benefits, will be grievously disappointed," the PASOK president said.

Venizelos added that "the Greeks are suffering, are anxious, they complain, but they know deep down that this is the only feasible and safe course."

Fotis Kouvelis: Greece must not find itself in a tug of war between EU and IMF

After his meeting with Samaras, Fotis Kouvelis expressed the need for the disbursement of the 31.5-billion-eurotranche, while regarding the issue of debt sustainability he argued that Greece must not find itself in a tug of war between the EU and the IMF. "Our effort is to implement a sustainable social and economic plan immediately after the disbursement, focusing on the development of the country."

The DIMAR president added that during the meeting the leaders also discussed issues that have to do with the effective functioning of the government.

Immediately after a discussion with reporters, commenting on the new Troika requirement for layoffs of 22,000 employees, Kouvelis said that there is no such case, nor will the government accept any more layoffs.