*In an effort to save face, LAOS has removed itself from the coalition government of ECB plant PM Lucas Papademos. Only PASOK and ND remain in support of the prime minister, who was only put in power in order to pass the austerity memorandum.
*Center-right ND has ramped up its rhetoric regarding illegal immigration, with party leader Antonis Samaras declaring that our cities "have been taken by illegal migrants...we will take our cities back" ND is only joined by Golden Dawn in this fight against illegal immigrants.
*SYRIZA is poised to make another surge in the polls, as two former PASOK MPs, the Unitary Movement party, prominent leftist Young Militants group, and two other "green left" groups have joined the coalition, which is now renamed SYRIZA-Unified Social Front. In a nationally-televised speech, leader Alex Tsipras outlined the groups platform:
Athens News wrote:The main points in this, as presented by Tsipras, were the reversal of the memorandum and the loan agreements, a suspension of payments for as long as was necessary for the recovery of the economy and then a selective default and the payment of a portion of Greece's debt with conditions and terms to promote growth.
Other key points were a redistribution of wealth accompanied by social and economic justice, real growth with respect for the environment that was beneficial for society and the economic and productive restructuring of the country.
In addition mention was made of a social protection 'shield', the defence of public goods, a multidimensional, independent foreign policy with active policies for peace, friendship and cooperation as well as a departure from NATO and the removal of NATO bases from Greece.
Tsipras underlined that the crisis now being experienced by Greece was the result of the political choices of the forces ruling the country for decades, that were now "forming partnerships in order to finish the job off" and had signed an agreement to "sell off and socially dismantle" Greece.
He accused foreign and especially European Union officials of attacking Syriza and interfering with the election process in Greece, fearing that the two-party system was under threat, and he dismissed a recent focus on unregistered migration issues as an attempt by the mainstream parties to create a diversion in the run-up to elections.
Asked about the possibility of cooperation after the elections with the Fotis Kouvelis' Democratic Left or former Pasok minister Louka Katseli's Social Pact parties, Tsipras said that Syriza "proposed policy convergences" but that did not look at things from the same angle as the Democratic Left or Social Pact.
With the possible death of PASOK and ND coalition government, the issues are increasingly becoming a fight between the big two vs. everyone else. Experts are predicting their combined votes for coalition government must exceed 38%.