Greek Communist Party

New Democracy is leading SYRIZA by 8 percentage points, according to a new poll which also places Golden Dawn, the country's neofascist party, in third place.

The Pulse survey, which was commissioned by iefimerida.gr website, puts the conservatives out in front with 30.5 percent and SYRIZA second on 22.5 percent.

The owners of the four new TV stations will be meeting with government representatives, later Monday at 3 pm, at Maximos Mansion. The four licence owners will see Minister of State Nikos Pappas, the government spokesperson, Olga Gerovasili and General Secretary of Information and Communication, Lefteris Krestos.

European Council President Donald Tusk’s praise in a tweet towards the Balkan countries for closing their borders to irregular migrants, and that this action was in line with the EU-28 decision on the refugee crisis has caused great controversy in the Greek political scene, with parties lashing out against Greek PM Alexis Tsipras.

A new poll conducted by MRB on voting intention shows that main opposition party New Democracy leads by 3.7% over SYRIZA.

New Democracy received 26.9% followed by SYRIZA with 23.2%, Greek Communist party (KKE) with 6.6%, Golden Dawn with 6.5%, Democratic coalition / PASOK / DIMAR with 5.7%, Centers’ Union Party with 4.1% and Independent Greeks with 3%.

Private TV station SKAI’s poll, conducted by the University of Macedonia, shows that seven in 10 Greek citizens are dissatisfied with the policies of the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government and its junior partner Independent Greeks (ANEL). 85% of those questioned said that they were dissatisfied, whereas only 6.5% agree with the government’s policies.

In the early hours of December 23 while most Greeks were sleeping, 193 lawmakers in a 300-seat house voted in favor of civil partnership agreements despite protests from right-wing factions and the all-powerful Greek Orthodox Church.

An ideological rift between the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) ruling party and its junior coalition party member Independent Greeks (ANEL) has resulted following the submission of the bill that allows for same-sex partnership rights. ANEL’s position is to vote against the first 14 articles of the bill that give the LGBT community the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.

Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos on Monday said that the draft bill opening up the bill on same-sex civil partnerships clearly forbids the adoption of children. Speaking to the parliamentary committee, he said that his ministry would add an amendment to clarify the issue.

Greece is gripped by 24-hour strike action on Thursday called by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the Greek Workers Association (ADEDY) in reaction to the Greek budget reforms and the demolition of Greek workers rights.

Party leaders of Greek Parliament viewed the initiative of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to hold a meeting of party leaders with suspicion. The PM called Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Thursday, calling for a meeting to brief leaders on the refugee crisis and pension system reforms, however opposition parties are cautious and reserved regarding the meeting.