Voting in 4 polls, one per person

The parliament meeting to discuss the proposals of the parties on the recommendation of a preliminary committee on the Lagarde list case began with a major change.

PASOK president Evangelos Venizelos suggested setting up 4 ballot boxes, one for each of the 4 persons (Papaconstantinou Venizelos, Papandreou, Papademos) who are proposed for referral to a preliminary committee. The Independent Greeks, Golden Dawn, the Democratic Left, the Communist Party, SYRIZA and New Democracy agreed with this view.

SYRIZA accused the prime minister of protecting Venizelos and the coalition government of manipulation. The PASOK president spoke of "political wretchedness wearing the veil of the ballot box" and suggested setting up 4 polls, one for each proposed person. Panos Kammenos blamed the Premier for manipulations in order to keep the MPs in parliament.

The start of the meeting was marked by parliament president Evangelos Meimarakis at 10.30 am, and it is expected to end late in the evening. Meimarakis explained the procedure, which is the common discussion of the 3 proposals and at the end the 3 separate votes, exactly as decided by the majority in the conference of parliamentary presidents.

The procedural issues seem to be the key point of the government’s clash with the opposition. Venizelos asked for one vote and 4 polls. It should be noted that the parliamentary plenary assembly will decide which of the two versions will be selected.