Agora
Posts by Nick Malkoutzis
![Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]](resources/toolip/img-thumb/2013/11/21/tsipras_1000_myrto_2111-large.jpg "Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]")
SYRIZA's date with history
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is following a well-trodden route by trying to force early elections over the presidential ballot. Several others before him have tried to exploit the loophole in the Greek constitution which means that snap polls have to be held if 180 MPs cannot be found to back a presidential candidate. The most recent opposition leader to follow this tactic was PASOK’s George Papandreou in 2009.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (407), Greece (519)
The institutional weakness poisoning Greek politics
It appears that the leader of ultra-nationalist LAOS, Giorgos Karatzaferis, will stand trial in connection to kickbacks he allegedly received as part of a deal signed to supply Greece with Super Puma helicopters. While this week's developments provide some hope that those guilty of corruption (time will tell if Karatzaferis is one of them) will be brought to justice, they also highlight the inability of Greek institutions to fulfil their role as guardians of fairness and democracy.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (407), Greece (519)
You can call it reform if you like
The coalition is currently involved in a dispute with local authorities over checks on municipal employees’ contracts. Some mayors have resisted attempts by the Administrative Reform Ministry to review the agreements that led to thousands of fixed-term contracts becoming permanent a decade ago.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (407), Greece (519)
Between the sword and the olive branch: Dilemmas of Greek diplomacy
"In one hand Greece holds an olive branch but in the other it holds the sword of justice," said Greece's new Defence Minister Nikos Dendias as he was sworn in on Monday. The danger is, though, that Greece is bringing a sword to a gunfight. Within hours of Dendias taking over the role, the Turkish Navy corvette Büyükada was sailing in Greek waters, not far from Athens. It was the latest unsubtle reminder from Greece’s neighbour that it will not relent from testing the limits of legality in Aegean.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (407), Greece (519)
How Samaras backed himself and Greece into a corner over bailout exit
The line coming out of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s office at the end of May was that New Democracy did not lose the European Parliament elections despite receiving almost 4 percentage points less than SYRIZA. Together with PASOK, Samaras’s party had a bigger share of the vote than the opposition. The argument emanating from the government camp was that if the leftists couldn’t score a decisive victory at the tail end of the Greek depression, they would never achieve one.
Contributors: Nick Malkoutzis, Yiannis Mouzakis
Categories: Politics (407), Economy (341), Greece (519)