Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras on Monday outlined to his party’s parliamentary group the reasons that led him to agree to back a transitional government which, he stressed, was formed for a specific purpose and has a specific duration.
Samaras, whose ND party is participating in the interim coalition government with four members (two ministers and two deputy ministers), said that ND achieved all the goals it had placed, stressing, “We gave rise to the Papademos government and we will back it as a transitional government, and not as a co-governance (between former ruling PASOK — most of which’s ministers have remained in place — and ND). It is clear that it is not a co-governance both from its duration and from its composition.”
“Much has occurred in the last days, the country faced risks, its continued presence in the EU was threatened,” Samaras said, adding that with former PASOK prime minister George Papandreou’s “indescribable” initiative (to call a referendum, which was subsequently retracted amid a storm of objections from the EU, the opposition in Greece and even his own ministers and MPs), Greece “found itself without a government and without a prime minister as the international crisis was spreading”.
“ND took the initiative to give an outlet, and we set out four targets: Change of prime minister, creation of a government with a national purpose that would ensure the country’s presence in the EU, unblocking the 6th tranche (of the EU-IMF bailout loan to Greece) and leading the country to elections. In the space of seven days, we achieved all our targets,” Samaras continued.
(source: ana-mpa)
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