Ragousis's Next Greece targets 'parasitic' habits

Former Socialist minister Yiannis Ragousis will on Wednesday be launching a new political movement, or would-be party, at a press conference in the Gazi district of central Athens.

Next Greece (Epomeni Ellada) aims to break with the habits of "parasitic Greece, the dark side of the post-dictatorship era" said a recent statement. "Our enemies are those who wasted the money, those who are not letting us escape the memorandums," it said.

The event will be livestreamed at epomeniellada.gr.

The 65-year-old Ragousis, widely viewed as a moderate reformist, served as interior minister in George Papandreou's PASOK government and as deputy defense minister in technocrat economist Lucas Papademos's  provisional coalition government from November 2011 to May 2012.

The new movement, which is expected to depend on political officials associated with Papandreou, now in...