Karolos Papoulias

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced plans for an early general election next month after parliament rejected his candidate for president on Dec. 29, throwing the country's international bailout into doubt.

A pilot scheme to electronically tag prisoners on furlough is due to start in two months after it emerged as a compromise between authorities and anarchist Nikos Romanos, who ended his 30-day hunger strike on Wednesday after a related amendment was passed through Parliament.

As Nikos Romanos started a thirst strike Wednesday, Greek Justice Minister Haralambos Athanasiou submitted an amendment in Parliament aimed at breaking the deadlock over the 21-year-old jailed anarchist and robber.

Romanos has been on hunger strike since November 10 over authorities' refusal to grand him an educational leave to attend classes at a Greek technical college (TEI).

The presidential elections may not have started yet but that did not prevent SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras from fully turning his attention to the prospect of snap national polls on Tuesday.

Greek stocks plunged Dec. 9 on fears of a political stalemate after the government unexpectedly brought forward a high-stakes presidential election.
      
The vote by 300 members of parliament to replace President Karolos Papoulias was due in February but a first round has now been set for December 17.
      

Speculation about the government's prospects for achieving the 180-seat super-majority needed to elect a president peaked on Friday after several independent and opposition MPs indicated that they would be willing to back the coalition's candidate, thus contributing toward averting snap polls.

Three high ranking EU officials will visit Ankara next week to discuss Turkey's EU membership and the Cyprus dispute, Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır announced on Dec. 4.

Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis was meeting with deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos at 10 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss the apparent deadlock in ongoing negotiations between the Greek government and troika representatives.

A teleconference between troika and Greek government officials on Tuesday led to the lenders’ estimate for next year’s fiscal gap being reduced but not to the point where the two sides are in full agreement over the content of the 2015 budget, which is due to be submitted to Parliament this week.

The Independent Greeks parliamentary group on Tuesday backed the party’s decision not to support any candidate to succeed President Karolos Papoulias in February’s election, regardless of who the nominee is.