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New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras and his opponents within the party have scheduled another meeting, this time during the session of the political party committee which will take place on Sunday. It should be noted that, during yesterday's marathon meeting of the parliamentary group that lasted over 10 hours, there was a serious confrontation between the two sides, without anyone making a decisive step towards a final clash.

New Democracy's leader had no reason to do something like that because nobody challenged his position directly, while the leadership members in turn tried to offend him with their proposal for an extraordinary congress, without directly putting forward the question of leadership.

The confrontation began with the issues relating to the party strategy (the election campaign, the political rhetoric of the leading party members, the reformist policy of Samaras, the ideological identity, etc.) and then subsequently it focused on the actions that should immediately be taken and in particular, on whether to convene a national conference as proposed by the former Prime Minister or to hold an extraordinary congress, which was supported by many senior members, including Dora Bakogiannis, Nikos Dendias, Kostis Hatzidakis, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Nikos Kaklamanis and others.

When Samaras took the floor for the second time he rejected the proposal for an extraordinary congress, noting, "I have no problem with convening an extraordinary congress but I will not make such a gift to SYRIZA."

Many interpreted part of his speech as a clear hint against Nikos Dendias, "I have not kept aloof from MPs and ministers. I have always been next to them. I remember Nikos Dendias telling me that I should take a rest and now I understand what he meant..."

A little earlier in his opening speech, the former Prime Minister had put straight all the controversial questions, stressing that the decision to be made should be made now to prevent New Democracy from a prolonged isolation.

The message

"If anyone thinks it is good for the party and the country to raise the issue of leadership, let them say it now and assume responsibility, triggering the procedures under the statutes. I am not married to this post but I will not abandon the battle at such a difficult time. Since our party will be called upon to play an unprecedented role, I want all of us to unite and to put an end to the internal problems today. Let us not allow them to grow because we will thus make a great gift to SYRIZA," stressed Antonis Samaras. Instead of an extraordinary congress, he proposed holding a national conference to hold a broader dialogue on the updating of the ideological identity of the party.

Simultaneously, the former Prime Minister announced the following changes in the functioning of the party:

• Creating an informal 15-member advisory body to the party president, which will meet on a regular basis, the institutionalisation of which is planned to take place during the next congress.

• Recomposing party secretariats through appointing MP's secretaries and deputy secretaries.

• Reorganising communication and its connection with the Institute for Democracy and the parliamentary faction.

Antonis Samaras protected the activities of his government, noting that New Democracy had lost only 1.83% compared to previous elections and stressing, "If elections had not been held in January, now the country would have been released from the memoranda and would have taken the path of economic growth." Finally, speaking of the opposition tactics he planned to follow, he said that New Democracy would defend what was in the interest of the country and its European orientation.

In particular, Samaras announced that in the negotiations with the European partners he would support the request to reduce surpluses as well as the aid for the debt - two issues the foundations of which had been laid by his government in his words. However, the former Prime Minister pointed out that he was against halting privatisation and reforms.

Meanwhile, Kostas Karamanlis remained true to his original statement and left the hall immediately after the opening speech of Antonis Samaras. He had told close associates that he did not want to participate in internal party dialogues.

However, there are more than a few people who interpret Karamanlis’ absence as a neutral position for the time being, which facilitates the leader of New Democracy.