NEWS IN ENGLISH 03/01/2015
The country is preparing for elections.
SYRIZA launched its election campaign with a meeting of the party’s central committee at the Tae Kwon Do indoor stadium, during which the principles of cooperation with other parties and individuals were examined, before ballots are officially presented.
In his opening speech SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras invited all social forces that have “suffered from the memorandum disaster, struggled and fighted for political change in the country and for the victory of our people” to work together in the upcoming elections. The speech of Mr. Alexis Tsipras was broadcast live by the radio of Ertopen.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited the regions of Karditsa and Larissa during his electoral campaign. In his New Year speech for the local party committee he criticised the main opposition party SYRIZA and refused to participate in a debate with its leader Alexis Tsipras.
Leader of Independent Greeks Panos Kammenos invited the Prime Minister to a debate with all the political leaders. “If he wishes for once in his life to serve the truth, he can take part in three debates: one about the country’s debt, one on national issues and one on policies for economic development.”
New Democracy MP Giorgos Kyrtsos supported the option of pension cuts as a “socially and politically explosive” choice, which he finds inevitable as the troika has demanded the reduction of the expenditure for pensions from 13 or 14 billion to 11 billion euros.
The name and symbols of the new party of former Prime Minister and PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou were submitted to the First Instance Court today. The founding declaration of the new party, which is named “Movement of Change”, will be signed by members who include mainly fresh names in politics and fewer “veterans”.
The press representative of PASOK characterized the founding of Papandreou’s new party as an immoral and irrational political act.
Leader of PASOK Evagelos Venizelos is visiting Sparta today and tomorrow he will continue his campaign in the cities of Tripoli and Kalamata.
The Central Committee and the continuous Congress of the Democratic Left are discussing the possibilities of cooperation with political forces of ecologists or the autonomous participation in the elections.
Meanwhile the movement of Europe-Ecology has announced its intention to cooperate with “To Potami”.
“One look around the political scene is enough to convince any voter that the Greek Communist Party is the only sure choice for the people”, stated Secretary General of the Greek Communist Party Dimitris Koutsoumbas.
SYRIZA is starting a political initiative for the modification of the Presidential Decree for the elections, in order not to deprive young voters, who become 18 years old during 2015, from the right to vote for technical reasons or formalities. The Greek Communist Party has also issued a similar statement on the matter.
Italian authorities have sent a new list of passengers and crew of “Norman Atlantic” to the Greek Ministry of Shipping. The list includes 485 names, however it is still possible that some names have been recorded twice, causing confusion and anguish to the relatives of the passengers who are still missing.
The ship was towed into the port of Brindisi today, where the Italian prosecutor started the investigation into the cause of the fire. Head prosecutor of Piraeus has asked the Central Port of Piraeus for a preliminary examination on whether security measures were respected by Greek and Italian authorities.
Burglary in the house of Independent Greeks MP Pavlos Haikalis who had been recently involved in the alleged bribery scandal before the presidential elections.
Fugitive terrorist Christodoulos Xiros was recaptured in his hideout in Anavyssos. Xiros was arrested by the anti-terrorist unit without resisting and the house he had been using is currently being searched.
WEATHER
Cloudy weather with local rains in western, central and northern Greece. Snow in the highlands, rain and storms in the Aegean in the afternoon. There will be frost during the night, mostly in central and northern Greece.
Temperatures in Athens will reach 15 degrees Celsius, in Thessalonica 10 degrees.
SYRIZA launched its election campaign with a meeting of the party’s central committee at the Tae Kwon Do indoor stadium, during which the principles of cooperation with other parties and individuals were examined, before ballots are officially presented.
In his opening speech SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras invited all social forces that have “suffered from the memorandum disaster, struggled and fighted for political change in the country and for the victory of our people” to work together in the upcoming elections. The speech of Mr. Alexis Tsipras was broadcast live by the radio of Ertopen.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited the regions of Karditsa and Larissa during his electoral campaign. In his New Year speech for the local party committee he criticised the main opposition party SYRIZA and refused to participate in a debate with its leader Alexis Tsipras.
Leader of Independent Greeks Panos Kammenos invited the Prime Minister to a debate with all the political leaders. “If he wishes for once in his life to serve the truth, he can take part in three debates: one about the country’s debt, one on national issues and one on policies for economic development.”
New Democracy MP Giorgos Kyrtsos supported the option of pension cuts as a “socially and politically explosive” choice, which he finds inevitable as the troika has demanded the reduction of the expenditure for pensions from 13 or 14 billion to 11 billion euros.
The name and symbols of the new party of former Prime Minister and PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou were submitted to the First Instance Court today. The founding declaration of the new party, which is named “Movement of Change”, will be signed by members who include mainly fresh names in politics and fewer “veterans”.
The press representative of PASOK characterized the founding of Papandreou’s new party as an immoral and irrational political act.
Leader of PASOK Evagelos Venizelos is visiting Sparta today and tomorrow he will continue his campaign in the cities of Tripoli and Kalamata.
The Central Committee and the continuous Congress of the Democratic Left are discussing the possibilities of cooperation with political forces of ecologists or the autonomous participation in the elections.
Meanwhile the movement of Europe-Ecology has announced its intention to cooperate with “To Potami”.
“One look around the political scene is enough to convince any voter that the Greek Communist Party is the only sure choice for the people”, stated Secretary General of the Greek Communist Party Dimitris Koutsoumbas.
SYRIZA is starting a political initiative for the modification of the Presidential Decree for the elections, in order not to deprive young voters, who become 18 years old during 2015, from the right to vote for technical reasons or formalities. The Greek Communist Party has also issued a similar statement on the matter.
Italian authorities have sent a new list of passengers and crew of “Norman Atlantic” to the Greek Ministry of Shipping. The list includes 485 names, however it is still possible that some names have been recorded twice, causing confusion and anguish to the relatives of the passengers who are still missing.
The ship was towed into the port of Brindisi today, where the Italian prosecutor started the investigation into the cause of the fire. Head prosecutor of Piraeus has asked the Central Port of Piraeus for a preliminary examination on whether security measures were respected by Greek and Italian authorities.
Burglary in the house of Independent Greeks MP Pavlos Haikalis who had been recently involved in the alleged bribery scandal before the presidential elections.
Fugitive terrorist Christodoulos Xiros was recaptured in his hideout in Anavyssos. Xiros was arrested by the anti-terrorist unit without resisting and the house he had been using is currently being searched.
WEATHER
Cloudy weather with local rains in western, central and northern Greece. Snow in the highlands, rain and storms in the Aegean in the afternoon. There will be frost during the night, mostly in central and northern Greece.
Temperatures in Athens will reach 15 degrees Celsius, in Thessalonica 10 degrees.