Popular Unity's Lafazanis says president should not 'rush' elections even more

Gazzetta team 25 Αυγούστου 2015 - 19:31

In statements after his meeting with main opposition New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis on Tuesday, the head of the breakaway 'Popular Unity' group of MPs Panagiotis Lafazanis urged Greece's President Prokopis Pavlopoulos to not set an election date before September 27.

"The president of the Republic cannot...decide as if he were an agent of the government. He is president of all Greeks and must allow time for Greek citizens to be fully informed about the repercussions of the memorandum. He cannot set elections before September 27, it would be unacceptable and inexcusable if he did," Lafazanis said.

He also noted that with Parliament still open, it was possible to hold a vote to scrap the "feudal" 50-seat bonus given to the leading party under existing election law and adopt a system of simple proportional representation in the upcoming elections.

Regarding his meeting with Meimarakis, held in the context of a three-day exploratory mandate to attempt to form a coalition government without resorting to elections, Lafazanis said the differences between ND and Popular Unity were too wide to be bridged. Lafazanis, as leader of the third-largest bloc of MPs in Parliament, received a mandate to attempt to form a government on Monday.