Greece Considers Bringing Forward Presidential Elections in 2015
Vote Could Take Place in New Year if Unable to Overcome Deadlock With International Creditors
ENLARGE
Students protest over cuts to education budgets at the Greek
parliament in central Athens on Nov 6. Greece’s international creditors
are now urging the government to implement more austerity measures.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The officials, from the two parties forming the coalition government, said the vote could be held straight after the Christmas break if Greece is unable to overcome a deadlock with international creditors over reforms needed to secure future funding.
“We are considering carrying out the presidential elections after Christmas,” a senior official from the ruling New Democracy party said. “We are in a vicious circle. As long as there is political uncertainty, our lenders are going to demand even harsher measures; the harsher the measures are, the bigger the political uncertainty will be.”
By March, the Greek parliament needs to elect a new president by a majority of at least 180 votes, out of a total of 300.
The government said in October that it would begin the process of electing the new president just before the term of the current president Karolos Papoulias ends in early March, which means the vote would be held around late February.
But since then negotiations with the troika—made up of representatives from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund—have been stuttering, prompting Greece to consider a change in its game plan.
The latest round of talks between the two sides ended in Paris last week without an agreement being reached, meaning that the country’s final review may not be completed in time for Greece to switch to a new credit line and that it may need to extend its current €240 billion ($188.8 billion) program. Negotiations are continuing with the Greek government proposing additional tax hikes and spending cuts to complete the review although troika officials are calling for more austerity measures. According to several eurozone officials the country’s creditors are looking at extending the country’s bailout program by up to six months.
Government officials suspect the creditors may be deliberately making big demands to extend its program well past March and the uncertainty posed by the coming presidential election.
“Earlier presidential elections would help ease this process. It would provide markets and investors with more clarity,” said the second official from junior coalition party Pasok.
Write to Nektaria Stamouli at nektaria.stamouli@wsj.com and Stelios Bouras at stelios.bouras@wsj.com
