Democratic Left

The government on Tuesday sought to douse growing speculation about Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis being lined up as a nominee for the Greek presidency as lawmakers from the coalition and opposition parties continued to fuel the debate by expressing their preferences on a successor for incumbent Karolos Papoulias, whose term expires in February.

The coalition on Monday attempted to play down Sunday Kathimerini’s report that Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis is being lined up as a nominee for the Greek presidency but at the same time government officials expressed support for the idea of the 65-year-old leftist succeeding Karolos Papoulias early next year.

Amid reports that Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis is likely to be the coalition’s nominee for the Greek presidency, a leading figure in the party has said he would be an appropriate choice.

Greece’s coalition leaders appear set to nominate Fotis Kouvelis, leader of the small Democratic Left (DIMAR) party, as their candidate for the country’s next president after Karolos Papoulias’s tenure expires in February, Kathimerini understands.

The repercussions of a Russian food embargo on Greek producers, and some 20 to 30 million euros in anticipated compensation from the European Commission, were the focus of talks on Tuesday under Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas.

Education Minister Andreas Loverdos confirmed on Thursday that he will soon be returning to PASOK.

“It is a given that I will return to PASOK’s parliamentary group,” said the minister, who quit the Socialists in 2012 to form his own party, Pact for a New Greece.

Following up a series of letters exchanged between main SYRIZA opposition leader Alexis Tsipras and his Democratic Left (DIMAR) counterpart Fotis Kouvelis, representatives of the two parties are scheduled to meet for talks on Thursday.

Both Greece’s conservative-led government and the leftist opposition claimed victory on Thursday after the Parliament’s summer session rejected proposals for a debate regarding a possible referendum on plans to sell part of Public Power Corporation (PPC), the nation’s biggest power producer, to a private competitor in 2015.

Parliament's summer session on Friday rejected proposals by Greek opposition parties for a debate on a referendum about the partial privatization of the Public Power Corporation.

Christos Markoyiannakis, who was presiding over the session, said the proposals had not garnered the support of a minimum of 120 MPs and so could not be approved.

The government has proposed a discussion in Parliament on Friday on whether a clutch of proposals by opposition parties for a debate on a referendum about the partial privatization of the Public Power Corporation can be approved but the main leftist opposition SYRIZA looked set to boycott the session.