Giorgos’ angst about the internal front

TInternal reactions in PASOK, mainly from ministers, are becoming the biggest problem for the government as the differentiations and critical voices against party politics increase. The main target for the ministers is the politics of the ministry of Finance and especially the way in which minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou is implementing the memorandum.

The climate inside PASOK is quite heavy for the czar of the economy and more organized reactions are expected soon – besides criticism in member meetings – but a collection of signatures for his removal is not yet confirmed.

In any case the budget voting on Wednesday is considered an act of broad acceptance of the minister’s by the party MPs

In this climate, Giorgos Papandreou is trying to defuse things and reach out in good will towards the parliamentary group, but mobilize his ministers too, so that there are results on all governmental policy aspects. He has called an informal meeting for Monday afternoon, while on Sunday he had meetings with the contributors of the Parliamentary Work Sectors of PASOK, the presidium of the parliamentary group and the parliamentary reps of the party.

During these meetings, there was harsh criticism for the ministers and the PM committed himself to dealing with the situation. He admitted that «mistakes and failures occurred and still do» and recognized the need for action from the start of the next year to better coordinate the government, with the party and the party's parliamentary group.

He clearly stated, though, that the country is “at war” and set as a priority the repayment time extension of the 110bil loan.