Greek government formation, January

A draft bill aimed at granting Greeks living abroad full voting rights was on Friday sent to political parties with the aim of a vote being held in Parliament by the end of the month.
Leftist SYRIZA has expressed reservations about the legislation - as has the Communist Party to a lesser extent - while indicating that some amendments should resolve the problem.

Following a session of its political secretariat Friday, the main leftist opposition SYRIZA party shifted position on New Democracy's initiative to grant full voting rights to diaspora Greeks, indicating that it could compromise on the basis of proposals made by the Communist Party (KKE) and the MeRA25 party of former leftist finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

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."

Half-hearted talk about the need for there to be self-criticism within Syriza is rampant, but it seems that it will be difficult to launch a substantial dialogue about how that government led the country to third, painful bailout memorandum.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday achieved consensus with some party leaders on his government's plan to grant Greeks living abroad full voting rights but not with the leader of the main leftist opposition Alexis Tsipras, who rejected the basis of the initiative, which is the equality of each vote. 

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."

Two months after his defeat in the general election, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is expected to speak at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) and offer a detailed critique of the first two months of the new government's activities, as well as presenting his and SYRIZA's intentions for the future.

Greece's former defense minister Panos Kammenos testified before a corruption prosecutor on Friday as a witness in connection with allegations against former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias that a contract for issuing visas was fixed under the latter's watch.

Greece's former defense minister Panos Kammenos was set to testify before a corruption prosecutor Friday in connection with allegations against Nikos Kotzias that a contract for issuing visas was fixed under the watch of the ex foreign minister.

Watching developments in Britain, my mind goes back to the near-fatal and certainly costly Greek summer of 2015. The turmoil surrounding the bailout referendum called by the leftist-led administration of Alexis Tsipras now feels like a distant memory, or rather like a nightmare one would rather forget.