Socialism in Greece

MPs were poised on Thursrday to approve the government's growth bill, which aims to lift obstacles to investment amid protests by workers who fear that the reforms will undermine labor rights.

The vote took place following a tense debate in the House during which opposition leaders took turns in condemning the legislation while a succession of ministers sought to defend it.

The government believes it will secure the backing of 200 MPs for its initiative to grant full voting rights to diaspora Greeks, sources indicated after the first session on Wednesday of a cross-party committee discussing the proposal.

Former leftist foreign minister Giorgos Katrougalos on Wednesday defended the SYRIZA government's tactics in 2015, when Greece came close to a eurozone exit, describing the administration's effort as "heroic."

When it was in the opposition, New Democracy had criticized Alexis Tsipras's leftist government for distributing the country's primary budget surplus in the form of an end-of-the year handout. 

Leftist opposition leader Alexis Tsipras went on the offensiveon Monday as he launched a campaign aimed at expanding his party's electoral catchment, accusing the New Democracy government of reneging on its pre-election promises.

Main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras on Friday appeared sceptical over a government plan to facilitate the voting rights of Greeks living abroad, saying the diaspora should not be used in "petty games of party expediency."

The government is in a powerful position, with a comfortable parliamentary majority and with the opposition seeking its way after electoral defeat. The years of crisis and the period of government by leftist SYRIZA and the right-wing nationalist Independent Greeks have broken many taboos, providing a rare opportunity for a new administration to change things in politics and the economy.

Newly elected Attica Regional Governor Giorgos Patoulis on Monday sent a letter to the president of opposition SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, demanding that the leftist party remove hundreds of posters advertising a music festival organized by its youth wing in Athens last weekend.

In their first debate over changes to Greece's Constitution, the government and the main opposition clashed over possible changes in the relations between church and state.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described a proposal submitted by main opposition SYRIZA on the vote of diaspora Greeks in general elections as "deeply offensive," saying it treats them as "second-class citizens."