Press Review March 14: One vote to pass them all

All of the troika’s demands are to be included in one piece of legislation to avoid a series of risky votes; the recent rises in unemployment give lie to the scenarios of economic recovery; a major portion of the electorate is undecided over European elections; the first plans for the development of the Hellenikon site are released, and the parliament’s ethics committee moves to strip Golden Dawn MPs of their immunity.

The Press Project
14 Μαρτίου 2014 | 11:38:37

	KATHIMERINI With one law, all of the prerequisites The government wants to avoid multiple votes – Social spending is a sticking point with the troika All of the remaining reforms demanded by the troika in order for the next tranche of bailout loans to be released, including the measure for the banks, will be included in one bill in order for the government to avoid multiple, challenging votes in parliament. The negotiations with the troika, which began yesterday with the aim of being concluded by Sunday, dominated Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s meeting yesterday with Deputy PM Evangelos Venizelos in the prime ministerial mansion. A crucial issue in the negotiations will be the portion of the primary surplus of 2013 that will be disbursed to groups such as low income pensioners and uniformed public workers. According to sources, the troika is currently insisting that the amount available does not exceed 100 million euros, with Athens maintaining that it is much greater. The second major sticking point remains the negotiations over the OECD ‘toolbox’ of market reforms.
	ELEFTHEROTYPIA The government is only offering a surplus of unemployment The ‘imminent recovery’ is in Samaras and Venizelos’s imagination There can be no economic recovery when at the same time jobs are being lost and there is an ever greater portion of society on the margins, i.e. out of work. The official data, highlight the problem in all of its dimensions with an increase in the percentage of unemployed in the final quarter of 2013 at 25.5%. When in the quarter with the lowest level of recession the unemployment rate rises by one percentage point compared to the previous quarter and 1.5% compared to the same time last year with the number of employed constantly falling and the unemployed constantly rising – in contrast to the two preceding quarters – then somewhere the official scenario of imminent recovery is seriously problematic. Under these conditions what possibility for economic recovery can there be?
	EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON The party leading in the polls is the… undetermined vote! A significant majority of voters believe SYRIZA will win Interest is divided in the european elections A recent electoral survey performed by Public Issue for ‘EFSYN’ reveals a foggy landscape in the run up to the European Parliament elections. The ‘undetermined’ vote (which includes the undecided, those who intend to cast a blank or invalid ballot and those who responded don’t know / no response) is at the exceptionally high level of 41%. In voter intentions, SYRIZA and New Democracy are tied while the ‘Potami’ [‘The River’ – a party recently established by well known TV journalist Stavros Theodorakis] is in third place. The polls show that the Mr Theodorakis’s party has drawn votes primarily from New Democracy (20.5%), SYRIZA (17.5%), The Democratic Left (DIMAR) (17.5%) and PASOK (16%).
	NAFTEMPORIKI Hellinikon former airport: Lamda’s technical bid is approved Lamda Development presented for the first time yesterday a summary of what it plans to build on the 6,200 stremmata (about 1550 acres) of the site of the former airport at Hellinikon, provided it takes on the project, after the Hellenic Asset Development Fund announced that it accepted its technical bid.
	IMERISIA Golden Dawn MPs to face justice Parliamentary immunity is lifted for Ilias Kasidiaris, E. Zaroulia, M. Arvanitis, and N. Kouzilos The Parliamentary Ethics Committee decided to put before parliament a motion for the lifting of immunity for 4 Golden Dawn MPs. This Tuesday, it will decide on the remaining Golden Dawn MPs. All of the parties voted for the measure except for the Independent Greeks.