The coalition government this week attempted to play down Sunday Kathimerini’s report that Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis is being lined up as a nominee for the Greek presidency, but at the same time government officials expressed support for the idea of the 65-year-old leftist succeeding Karolos Papoulias early next year.
Government spokesperson Sofia Voultepsi said it was “premature” to start discussing who Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos would nominate for the presidency in the hope that the candidate could secure the minimum of 180 votes needed to be chosen, thereby sparing the need for national elections.
However, Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis appeared enthusiastic about the prospect of Kouvelis being put forward by the coalition.
“He is a politician that has served responsibly for many years, without engaging in divisive activities,” said the minister. “He is suitable for the role because the president must be a sober personality that can handle his institutional role. I believe he fits the bill 100 per cent.”
PASOK MP Dimitris Karydis also seemed to favour Kouvelis’s potential candidacy. “We believe that among the people who could be picked for the role of president, Mr Kouvelis is one of those who could perform the job well,” said the Socialist official.
The speculation about Kouvelis’s potential nomination prompted reactions from within his party, with some backing the prospect and others vehemently opposing it, while the main left opposition party SYRIZA roundly condemned it. Fotis Kouvelis was a SYRIZA MP before he left the party, with others, to form DIMAR.
DIMAR press spokesman Christos Machairas suggested that the matter had been broached at an inopportune moment.
“The presidential election is a serious political issue and must be weighed against the political climate of the time, and with the policies that are being exercised,” he said.
Sources indicated that DIMAR will decide on whether or not to support Kouvelis as a candidate in the coming months if the party sees a shift in the coalition’s policy away from austerity. Prominent MP Spyros Lykoudis stated outright that “Kouvelis would be a very good president”. But other members of parliament, including Professor Yiannis Panousis, opposed the prospect.
“DIMAR will vote down legislation and Fotis Kouvelis, as the president of the republic, will sign it,” he remarked.
Source: ekathimerini