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Victoria Mindova 

Theodoros Skylakakis is a Member of the European Parliament and member of the Group of Liberals and Democrats in Europe. He is also cofounder of the Democratic Alliance led by Dora Bakogiannis. Skylakakis is a graduate of City University London and he is renowned for his clear view of events in some of the most critical moments of Greek history. GRReporter has asked him to comment on the long discussions on the composition of the new coalition government and give his point of view on the recent events.

How do you assess Lucas Papademos as a contender for the new post of Prime Minister in the interim coalition government? Would he be able to solve the serious problems facing this administration?

I think Lucas Papademos is a good choice for this position, but everything depends on the mode of action of this government and those who will be selected now. This government should not be limited. It should operate normally in the established institutional frameworks. The interim coalition government should take concrete objective decisions for the sake of the country and be independent of parallel party interests.

Do you believe there is such a risk - for party forces to exert pressure to question the objectivity of the decisions taken by the new government?

Of course there is. In Greece, there is no culture of political consensus. It is not easy to be reached, nor is it accepted by default, but now, there is no chance for something else to happen.

The new government is expected to land a big burden on the Minister of Finance who remains Evangelos Venizelos from PASOK. Do you think he would be able to apply the severe measures for economic savings provided in the bailout agreement?

Serious mistakes in economic policy have been made so far particularly in connection with high taxation. A new economic policy is necessary, which would allow the mistakes made so far to be corrected. This is very important for us. He has to put aside his selfishness and party restrictions and do what he should from now on.

Until yesterday, there were talks that this government would last until 19 February 2012, when early parliamentary elections should be held. What do you think about the time restrictions imposed by PASOK and New Democracy on the existence of the interim coalition government?

I think that this period is not sufficient. If one reads the decisions from the summit of European leaders of October 26, namely that this government should meet before withdrawing from power, it will become clear that completion of the programme for the private sector involvement (Private Sector Involvement - PSI +) in the reduction of external debt is the condition for receiving the money from the aid. This procedure could not be guaranteed to be completed by February. It might continue until March or even April. Negotiations are underway and they could not be interrupted to hold elections. Until the private sector involvement in solving the debt crisis is settled, we cannot talk about elections.

We will see how long the mandate of this government will be. I am not able to forecast whether its life will be longer or shorter.

What is the reason to insist on a government with a short "expiry date"?

The explanation is very simple. There is a perception that early elections will bring better results for the opposition forces. Major parties prefer early elections, while the smaller parties of European orientation fully support the coalition government and prefer to enable it to implement the planned changes in full. Early elections could be interpreted as calming to the political situation, but now this is not true because it seems overall that a coalition government could appease the situation.

Do you believe that Greece has overcome the risk of exiting the eurozone or does it still have a long way to go?

We are far from saying that there is no such danger. Not just months, but years, of serious work lie ahead before the danger of exiting the eurozone is left completely behind. Do not forget that promising to implement a program with broad consensus does not mean that it will be fulfilled. The Greek economy needs a lot of work on reforms. There is the need to start operating again and to attract investment to reduce unemployment and stimulate growth. These are all conditions that will allow us to stay within the eurozone. You know, it is not enough to meet fiscal measures to stay within the euro, but the country has to begin operating again.

Could you describe the situation in Europe during the last week regarding the Greek crisis? What is the atmosphere in Brussels?

Greece has a problem with the government - this is the assessment of Europeans from their perspective. We are talking about the failure of the Greek political system to cope with the minimum requirements in this situation. This is due to the two major parties that bear primary responsibility for this situation. The ruling party is responsible, because it did not introduce the necessary policies in the right way in order to preserve its own electoral base. The opposition party is responsible, because it insisted on an impracticable solution that had significant impact on the implementation of the recovery programme and did not bring anything for the good of the country. In other words, the major parties, both of the left and the right, are responsible for the failure of the programme.

The opposition party climb-down and transferal of power from the ruling party mark a new policy framework. It gives rise to our emerging from the impasse, but we should not stop here.

How do you assess the reactions of the opposition New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras in the last week?

Antonis Samaras has relinquished the negotiations because he knew he was not right. In politics, it is very difficult to have the decency to admit that you are wrong. Sometimes, actions could imply this admission and sometimes it could be openly acknowledged. In any case, abandoning the wrong position and adopting the right one is a step in the right direction.