Leonidas Grigorakos

There was growing pressure on the government on Thursday, even from within its own ranks, to come up with some kind of proposal that might bring the political parties together and avoid early elections.

Alternate Health Minister Leonidas Grigorakos on Wednesday proposed that a 5-euro fee that patients pay for outpatient treatment at state hospitals be scrapped and the lost revenue offset by other measures such as increasing taxes on tobacco products and alcohol.

Supreme Court prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani on Wednesday ordered a probe into claims by inmates at Attica’s Korydallos Prison that detention conditions are substandard and conducive to the spread of diseases.

Koutzamani asked Piraeus prosecutor Evangelos Zacharis to probe claims of an increasing number of cases of tuberculosis among inmates.

The Health Ministry wants to hire 4,000 permanent staff, including 1,500 state hospital doctors, next year.

It made a written request to the Administrative Reform Ministry on Monday as approval is needed before the hirings can be made.

Greece is yet to meet the civil service reduction targets it agreed with the troika for this year.

The stability of the Greek government will be put at risk if the center-left Olive Tree (Elia) alliance does not perform well in the May 25 European Parliament elections, PASOK leader and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Tuesday.

The government on Thursday removed from a draft immigration law a provision foreseeing the expulsion of immigrants found to have made false claims of racially motived violence after the proposed measure nearly caused a rift in the fragile coalition.

Deputy Interior Minister Leonidas Grigorakos on Wednesday removed from a draft immigration law a provision that foresaw the immediate expulsion from Greece of any migrants that made a false complaint to authorities.

The provision met with criticism from opposition parties.

SYRIZA MP Vassiliki Katrivanou called it “racist and dangerous.”