ND Committee meeting says SYRIZA playing with 'Grexit' (video)

The main opposition conservative New Democracy Political Committee met at midday on Sunday to discuss a number of issues such as the party's poor performance at the January 25 elections that marked a victory for the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA). Former prime minister Antonis Samaras addressed the meeting. "Forty days after the elections, and our opponents are admitting to their lies," he said.

Samaras said that Varoufakis comments regarding a referendum if EU partners don't agree to Greek proposals is the same "fatal mistake" that socialist PASOK leader George Papandreou had made. "The government is playing with a Grexit to fling responsibility off themselves and blame the people," he said in his opening speech. He said that the referendum is possible if Brussels does not agree to the Greek government's proposals.

Samaras noted that the SYRIZA party has already been forced to agree, with its signature on the Eurogroup agreement on February 20, that the country had made significant progress with the ND-PASOK coalition even though this has not been admitted within Greece.

"The renamed the troika as 'institutions' and are baptizing meat is fish, and this is something that their own (deputies) have admitted to, such as (MEP) Manolis Glezos and (Parliamentary Speaker) Zoi Konstandopoulou," said Samaras.

The conservative leader spared no punches when refering to Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis who he described as "ludicrous", adding that his proposals to combat tax evasion have only prompted "laughter and irony." "They fell short of inviting Inspector Clouseau to help out," he said.

"We don't want SYRIZA to leave as a victim of change" he said at another point and maintained that the government is guilty of "duping the Greek nation."<...