Greek government formation, January

Parliament’s ethics committee is to investigate comments made by two independent MPs, Odysseas Voudouris and Theodoros Parastatidis, in which they appeared to cast doubt on the motives of lawmakers who voted for the government’s presidential candidate.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said on Friday that he is determined to implement his party’s economic program if it comes to power but admitted that it would experience a challenging period.

Leftist SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras on Thursday categorically ruled out any kind of consensus with other political parties before elections.

By Nikos Chrysoloras

Led by Alexis Tsipras, Syriza is Greece's biggest opposition party and has pledged to annul the country's bailout agreement should it take power.

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A new poll published Wednesday, a few hours before Greek MPs start the first round of crucial voting to determine whether Parliament will elect a new president or whether the country will head to national elections, showed leftist SYRIZA opposition gaining a 3.2 percent lead over New Democracy, the larger of the two parties involved in Greece's coalition government.

Rounding off a two-day visit to Athens on Tuesday, European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici urged the government to push through pending economic reforms and indicated that Brussels has “its preferences” in which governments it wants to deal with.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due to meet Finance Ministry officials on Monday to discuss the next steps Greece has to take towards closing out the ongoing troika review.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the presidential elections, the Finance Ministry is continuing to prepare the ground for an agreement with the troika, whose technical teams are in Athens.

With the government still not in a position to elect a president, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras launched an all-out attack on SYRIZA on Thursday that was aimed to make independent and opposition MPs think twice about how they will vote when the ballot for head of state comes around.

Democratic Left (DIMAR) on Tuesday said that it will not be backing the coalition government's candidate for president in three Parliamentary votes expected to start next week.

The party, which split from the coalition last year, said in an announcement that it will not contribute to "the protraction of the political deadlocks being pursued by the present government."

A decision on Monday by Greece's coalition government to move forward the election for a new president constitutes a "significant popular and democratic victory," opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday.