Politics of Greece

By Alexis Papachelas

Many pundits like to draw parallels between SYRIZA chief Alexis Tsipras and the late PASOK leader Andreas Papandreou. The assumption is that should Tsipras come to power, he would turn into a more systemic, adaptive politician.

The government is to lift restrictions on MPs standing as candidates in the European Parliament elections though MPs of co-ruling New Democracy will have to quit their seats before running as MEPs, Interior Minister Yiannis Michelakis said on Monday.

The government welcomed an agreement by eurozone finance ministers in Brussels late on Friday to extend Greece?s financial rescue by four months, saying it would give the newly-installed administration time to negotiate a new deal.

By Karl Stagno Navarra and Jonathan Stearns

Euro-area finance ministers reached an accord that would keep bailout funds flowing to Greece in return for a commitment to meet certain conditions, buying time to work out the detail of longer-term Greek financing.

Alternate Defense Minister Costas Isichos said on Friday that the government would launch investigations into numerous procurement deals, including the purchase of NH-90 helicopters in 2003, when PASOK was in power and Yiannos Papantoniou was defense minister.