Irredentism

Gennimata: Tsipras 'bankrupted' the name of the Left

Centre-left Movement for Change (Pasok-based) leader Fofi Gennimata has lashed out at PM Alexis Tsipras describing him as a disgrace to the Greek Left following his two-hour nationally televised interview on SKAI television yesterday evening.

It used to be possible to predict the outcome of an election with some certainty. The key lay in guessing which way the middle-ground voters would swing; those who had voted for PASOK's Costas Simitis and then New Democracy's Costas Karamanlis, those who had voted for Karamanlis and then George Papandreou, and thought of themselves as "homeless" centrists.

Movement for Change leader Fofi Gennimata has ruled out the prospect of her centre-left party joining a coalition government with the top party in the 7 July general election, which according to all polls will be New Democracy by a wide margin.

"We are seeking a strong mandate in order to overturn the political scene," Gennimata said.

Straight on the heels of a triple electoral triumph in European, mayoral, and regional elections, main opposition conservative New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has decided to do away with large electoral rallies in favour of meetings nationwide with small groups of voters for interactive discussions on various subject areas in New Democracy's programme.

Socialist veteran Evangelos Venizelos accused Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Fofi Gennimata of committing political suicide by playing into the hands of New Democracy and denied rumors that he was eyeing some form of cooperation with the center-right opposition.

Albanian officials are not very convincing when they denounce talk about a Greater Albania as Serbian and Russian propaganda designed to cultivate fear of Albania.

Serbian right-wingers have begun a concerted campaign against BIRN project coordinator Sofija Todorovic since she defended the rights of an ethnic Albanian baker in her hometown of Borca - himself the subject of nationalist attacks - sharing hate speech, insults and threats to her on social media and attempting to hack her account on Twitter.

With Greece gearing up for ballots next month, ruling SYRIZA is trying to expand its electoral catchment by rebranding its image as a "progressive" political force.

Greece's main opposition party, which is polled to win the next general election, has doused speculation that it plans to propose former socialist prime minister Costas Simitis or ex PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos as President of Greece.

Speaking on Skai radio on Thursday, New Democracy spokesperson Maria Spyraki said both scenarios were "out of the question."
 

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