Giorgos Katrougalos

Main opposition SYRIZA was plunged into turmoil almost on the eve of elections after the announcement that one of its senior MPs, Giorgos Katrougalos, would not be running following the backlash sparked by his comments in a TV interview on Wednesday that the party planned, if it were elected, to link insurance contributions to income level for both wage earners and freelancers.

Giorgos Katrougalos, an MP for SYRIZA and a former foreign minister of the party, on Thursday announced his intent to withdraw from the upcoming elections after stating that social contributions for the self-employed may go up in a future SYRIZA government, something the party denied.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will hold meetings with representatives of Greece's opposition parties on Monday, as part of their regular briefing on current foreign policy issues.

Describing the new social security bill that was passed on Thursday in Parliament with 158 votes in favor and 128 against, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said it marks a "very important step forward" that safeguards pensions for the next 50 years.

Allowing self-employed professionals to choose the amount of social security contributions they want to pay does indeed satisfy the long-time request for a rationalization of the burdens imposed by the social security legislation introduced in 2016 and known as the Katrougalos law, after the labor minister at the time, Giorgos Katrougalos. 

In a note on Twitter on Tuesday, US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt stressed the importance of boosting Greek-US ties and "continuing to build on our strong bilateral relationship, including on defense, security, energy and investment" following talks with prominent SYRIZA cadres Nikos Pappas and Giorgos Katrougalos.

Former leftist foreign minister Giorgos Katrougalos on Wednesday defended the SYRIZA government's tactics in 2015, when Greece came close to a eurozone exit, describing the administration's effort as "heroic."

The Council of State has ruled that basic pillars of the 2016 social security legislation, known as Katrougalos law, are unconstitutional, according to a set of decisions published on Friday.

The Labor Ministry intends to correct a considerable distortion of the social security system that has resulted from the introduction of the Katrougalos law. Leading to unreasonably low new pensions, the law is an incentive for undeclared and low-paid employment.

The previous government's omission to place a cap on pensions shows that the so-called Katrougalos law on social security (named after former labor minister Giorgos Katrougalos, who introduced it) was haphazardly drafted.

This is after all why many of its clauses, so many years after it was passed in Parliament, remain unenforced.