Evangelos Venizelos

Former Prime Minister and ex-PASOK chief George Papandreou is reportedly poised to announce the formation of a new political party, Skai television cited Parliamentary sources as saying early in Tuesday.

With all political parties now actively preparing for the prospect of snap elections, MPs are to vote in the second ballot of a critical three-phase presidential vote at noon on Tuesday.

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.

The first of possibly three presidential ballots will take place on Wednesday evening, with the government expecting its candidate, Stavros Dimas, to receive at least 161 of 300 MPs’ votes, which will be well short of the 200 needed to be elected but a basis for the coalition to work from for the final ballot on December 29, when 180 votes will be required.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is set to reject any attempts for a last-minute deal between the government and the opposition over the election of Stavros Dimas as president, preferring instead to go to snap elections if the coalition fails to get the minimum 180 votes needed on December 29.

Sources close to ex-Prime Minister George Papandreou have confirmed that he is seeking a new and active role in Greek politics but that he has not yet decided to form his own party to run in snap elections, preferring instead for a president to be elected this month and a government of “national understanding” to be formed.

Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos sparked further doubt Friday about George Papandreou’s future in PASOK by suggesting that he no longer considers the former prime minister part of the party.

PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos on Friday shrugged off at suggestions made the previous day by his predecessor at the helm of the socialist party George Papandreou that he might form his own political movement if Greece heads to early elections.

Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos was expected to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Friday.

The meeting was set to take place on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of BSEC member states.

The Euro Working Group (EWG) approved on Wednesday Greece’s request for a two-month extension to its bailout as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested that an agreement on a precautionary credit line would not be reached until the current program has been concluded successfully.