Potami

The announcement on Tuesday by Stavros Theodorakis that he will be stepping down from the leadership of the centrist Potami party essentially marks the end of a political grouping that came into being during the crisis but did not apply the same tactics as the other protest parties.

On a post on Facebook on Monday, Potami MP Grigoris Psarianos described himself as an independent MP, signalling his departure from the centrist party which is now left with three MPs.

The name itself, Movement for Change, is a tacit reference to the past but also appears to aim at the future. From a public relations perspective the name gives the impression that it could serve as an umbrella for different forces - but only time will tell if it will.

To Potami has decided to join forces with Decision Time, a new political movement set up by former socialist heavyweights Anna Diamantopolou, Yiannis Ragousis and Giorgos Floridis, the flagging centrist party said late Sunday.

Potami leader Stavros Theodorakis will attend a series of meetings today in Thessaloniki where he arrived for his scheduled press conference at 3 pm today in the framework of the 80th Thessaloniki International Fair. Apart from the press conference, he will meet with Thessaloniki’s mayor Yannis Boutaris and students of American Farm School.

Martin Schulz, the center-left's candidate to lead the European Commission after EU parliamentary elections this month, has voiced his support in Greece for To Potami (The River), the newly-formed centrist party led by journalist Stavros Theodorakis.