Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is processing his final strategies ahead of the final, third ballot for the election of the President of the Hellenic Republic. The speculation regarding the Greek Premier’s final move has dramatically risen since yesterday and the second unsuccessful ballot for the election of Stavros Dimas as the country’s next President.
According to a portion of Greek media, Samaras will reveal his last cards until this coming Sunday, 24 hours ahead of the Presidential vote’s critical third round. One scenario wants the Prime Minister proceeding to a new address to the Greek people, targeting mostly to affect the votes of Democratic Left (DIMAR) MPs and those of the Independent Greeks (ANEL). He is expected to more precisely define the time of the general elections, as in his latest announcement he said that these would take place at the end of 2015.
At the same time, Samaras is also expected to table his greatest trump, the Constitutional revision, as well as the electoral law’s reform, which will include a return to a more proportionate system and even the abolition of the 3% basis for entering the Parliament. As the latest polls have revealed, in case of general elections, the 3% basis seems like an insurmountable barrier for DIMAR.
The government headquarters estimate that such a move is a “checkmate,” as it gives DIMAR’s parliamentary group, which currently consists of nine MPs, a very good reason to change its votes in favor of Stavros Dimas, while a change in DIMAR’s stance might also entice the ANEL MPs.
The government, though, is well aware that the 168 votes it managed to secure in the second ballot are way too far from the desired 180 votes required for the election of Dimas and that is the reason they have also decided to increase the argument tone with main opposition SYRIZA, partly based on the poll results showing that Greek people are unhappy with the prospect of snap elections.
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