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Any opinion on whether PASOK will do a national unity government with Syriza?

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Sun Jun 17th, 2012 at 06:53:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You mean without ND? Impossible.

SYRIZA has pre-empted any questions by stating that its sole aim is to try to be a great Official Opposition, thank you very much.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sun Jun 17th, 2012 at 07:13:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually, I was wondering if you thought PASOK would join a coalition with ND if SYRIZA didn't?

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Sun Jun 17th, 2012 at 08:13:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
SYRIZA will most definitely not join a coalition with ND. PASOK will. They're playing hard-to-get at this point but they will at least give them a confidence vote at the parliament. In which case DIMAR might do likewise

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sun Jun 17th, 2012 at 08:22:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
In the campaign, Venizelos didn't tire telling that any future government should include SYRIZA. To me this implies some long-term thinking (longer than a month): a fear of losing even more voters.

Then again, now an implosion of SYRIZA is an option, too...

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 01:48:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
So ND can't form a government with PASOK, and PASOK won't form a government without SYRIZA.

Will a third round of elections really change anything?  

Can things really wait another month?  Or, will this only exacerbate current shortages at hospitals and the like?   And, at what point does the troika begin to erect a financial cordon around the country?

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 02:53:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm not 100% certain that Venizelos's pre-election insistence on including SYRIZA in the government will hold up after the elections. My most pessimistic scenario is that SYRIZA's failure to beat ND will turn its newest voters off and poll number erosion will set in, giving PASOK leaders a hope of re-gaining ground in spite of participation in a doomed pro-austerity government that has a substantial anti-austerity opposition. (But voters leaving SYRIZA could actually swing to the Nazis instead.)

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 03:33:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Standards of living will continue deteriorating, so that will not help the parties that will participate in the government. All of them also promised substantial renegotiation of the memoranda. This will not happen, although they might get a bone or two from the creditors.

PASOK will obviously participate in an ND-led government, and so will DIMAR probably. Otherwise they will lead the country to a third election and that threat was one of the accusations leveled against SYRIZA in the campaign period - that if it wins no-one will work with them and thus they will force the country to a third election.

SYRIZA's newest voters are unlikely to be budge in the short term as long as one of the things that unite them still is in place: austerity. The hatred of the ND/PASOK corruption will in all likelyhood be rekindled every few days or so. But in the long term the only thing that unites these voters is the person of Alexis Tsipras. This is very uncomfortable for a political space which frowned upon "leader-worship". So in the coming few months SYRIZA in its new extent will try to organize itself into something more coherent...

But PASOK is dead and ND scored its lowest percentage ever despite the campaign of fear and the near-total (and near-totalitarian) support it had from the MSM. The Nazis have not reached their possible maximum yet. Note that social reaction to this disaster has been limited these past few months as people were waiting to see what would come out of the elections... I don't think this moratorium will be in place for long... And I expect a strong and violent reaction to the Nazis continued murderous attacks against immigrants and leftists. Since the media will spin this in a "battle of extremisms" narrative, this can easily get out of hand...

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 06:17:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]
That went fast.

Live news blog, June 18 | Athens News

9.39pm To wrap up today's events,  the parties that broadly back the country's international bailout will agree to form a coalition government on Tuesday, a senior official with New Democracy party told Reuters on Monday.   "We are going to clinch a deal tomorrow, we will form a government," the official, who declined to be named, said.   The official said that Pasok party would appoint members in the next cabinet and also expressed hope that the Democratic Left, would take part.

These two sickos aren't bad guys from a James Bond parody, but hold the future of Greece:



*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 05:24:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Nazis have not reached their possible maximum yet.

Indeed. Our media elites are scaremongering about SYRIZA while such things happen now with a regularity:

Live news blog, June 18 | Athens News

4.42pm Golden Dawn "celebrated" their consolidating election performance yesterday with another attack on an immigrant. A Pakistani national was stabbed last night at Attiki train station. According to Vima, the attack took place at around 23.30, with eye witnesses, confirming the assault and the fact that the attackers were Golden Dawn supporters.


*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 05:29:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, things can wait another month. The EU will get really impatient but Greece is better off without a government than with a bad government. Tax collection has been suspended during the election prior to buy votes for the Troika, so people are doing a little better. The humanitarian catastrophe keeps advancing, but forming a pro-Troika government wouldn't have improved that.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 04:55:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]
during the election priorperiod, that is.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 06:26:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Do I sense a touch of cynism in that "Official Opposition" remark? If so, do you think SYRIZA shoud have done something else?

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 01:44:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
NO, don't take it like that.

In multi-party systems, being the second voted party gives you that official designation.
Greeks call it "Official" because it's the party from the opposition that sets the tone with an actual chance of being an alternative to govern.

by Euroliberal on Mon Jun 18th, 2012 at 04:17:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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