Political leaders meet on terrorism and Lagarde list

The prospects of the new year and the current political affairs with the upsurge of violence and terrorist attacks will be the focus of the prime minister’s meeting with the leaders who support the government at Maximos Mansion this afternoon.

The meeting will take place in the shadow of the full-on political confrontation between the government and SYRIZA about the violence and the upcoming parliament vote to refer to the preliminary committee those politicians involved in the case of the Lagarde list.

Maximos Mansion believes that SYRIZA’s reluctance to condemn the recent violence balances the political costs of the debate on the political responsibilities of Evangelos Venizelos in the Lagarde list case.

The 3 political leaders are expected to decide whether there will be individual polls set up for each person requested for referral - Yorgos Papakonstantinou, Evangelos Venizelos, Yorgos Papandreou and Lucas Papademos-  or whether there will be a vote on each different party proposal.

The second version, which meets the strong reaction of the opposition, helps control coalition MPs to reduce leakages and unpleasant surprises. The government does not want situations that will cause political instability as in the case of Venizelos or Papandreou’s referral to a preliminary committee. This proposal intends to limit the case to the investigation only of Papaconstantinou’s responsibilities.

Meanwhile, the Greek coalition government is looking for positive news to offset the dissatisfaction of the restrictive policy and tax increases. Developing social safety nets and the fight against tax fraud are its key priorities. What is not discussed in any way is the loosening of fiscal policy, which is a prerequisite for Greece’s external credibility and the continuation of support from the European Union.

The political leaders’ agenda includes the difficulties in the promotion of large privatizations, such as DEPA, due to the background of conflict of interest shown by the intervention of the U.S. government to prevent the sale to Russian interests. Finally, according to reports, the three political leaders might discuss the issue of the EEZ proclamation, which also encounters problems with Turkey's refusal.