Will DIMAR Disband Before The Final Presidential Vote?

The Democratic Left (DIMAR) is in turmoil, and there are quite a few rumors in the Greek press that are talking about a possible break-up of the party prior to the conclusion of the Presidential elections. One such report in the Ta Nea newspaper claims that DIMAR may be headed for a dissolution ahead of the final critical vote of the Presidential elections on December 29th.

The report points out that at least nine DIMAR MPs are prepared to declare their independence from the party, since they are apparently displeased with DIMAR leader Fotis Kouvelis' stance in the presidential election. Basically, they disagree with the rejection of the PM’s call for a consensus.

Aside from that, the same MPs appear to be bothered that Kouvelis responded to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ call on his own accord, without previously discussing the matter. So far three DIMAR MPs – Niki Founta, Nikos Tsoukalis and Thomas Psyrras – have signed a common statement of eight MPs who called for a political consensus, which resembled the proposals that Samaras made in a televised speech on Sunday.

On Monday, Nikos Tsoukalis appeared on SKAI television and denied the rumors of a mass exodus of MPs and he made it clear that he would vote "present" on Tuesday, in accordance with the party line.

The same cannot hold true for DIMAR MP Theodoros Papatheodorou who issued a statement requesting that his party votes in favor of Stavros Dimas. Papatheodorou claims that Samaras essentially adopted the recent proposal of the eight MPs, which he characterized a “important step” towards the necessary national consensus that is going to avert the escalation of political uncertainty.