Former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told Reuters that his newly-formed party is open to an alliance with election frontrunner SYRIZA under conditions. He also said he would rather play his guitar than be a deputy.
The PASOK leader of the recent past has formed a new party, the Socialist Democrats Movement. Current PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos has accused him of splintering the once mighty party. The Socialist Democrats Movement is considered to be a wild card in the January 25th elections if the party manages to get the 3 percent of the vote required to enter the Greek Parliament. Papandreou appears confident that he will be in the new House.
Speaking to Reuters, Papandreou said he will agree to cooperate with SYRIZA after the elections provided that SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras agrees on a popular referendum on reform policies. With his definite pro-euro platform, Papandreou could be a moderating influence on SYRIZA, a party with extreme leftists in its ranks whose rhetoric has scared foreign investors.
“It fully depends on what SYRIZA would espouse,” he said. “If they are serious about making changes, if they are serious in negotiating with partners in an organized and stable way to move out of this particularly difficult period… I would be glad to support.”
The former PASOK leader is a firm believer in the euro zone. However, he said that Europe should write off part of the debt and put an end to austerity.
Papandreou said the debate should move away from the narrow focus on support or opposition of the bailout program, the infamous “referendum,” that has led to the polarization of Greeks.
The former PM ruled out an alliance with the New Democracy party and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who has failed to implement reforms and backed down to special interest lobbies.
Regarding the accusations of PASOK members who blame him for betraying the party founded by his father, he said he wanted a fresh start with politicians who were not part of the corrupt system of clientelism.
“That’s not my politics, that never was my politics,” he said. “I don’t need to be in politics just to be a deputy — we have great islands here in Greece. I could go off to a Greek island to play my guitar.”
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