Greece's year-old coalition was left with a slim parliamentary majority of three yesterday, after the smallest of three parties pulled its two ministers from the cabinet in a dispute with prime minister Antonis Samaras over his closure last week of the national broadcaster ERT.
Democratic Left, which had insisted that all 2,656 staff be temporarily rehired until the new, downsized broadcaster was ready, said it could not agree to a compromise struck by its erstwhile partners that will see 2,000 employees return to their jobs while the new, renamed broadcaster is set up.
Political appointees
Heralding the deal, Mr Samaras pledged to complete his term of office, repeating his accusation that the "sinful" ERT – a state broadcaster stacked with many political appointees over the years – meant the station could not be reopened.
When he pulled the plug on the station on June 11th, Mr Samaras said it would be relaunched with only 1,000 staff.
Despite withdrawing from government, Democratic Left, which has 14 MPs in the 300-member parliament, indicated that it would support the year-old government on a case-by-case basis.
"The country does not need elections and Democratic Left will continue to fight for Greece to remain in the European framework," its leader, Fotis Kouvelis, said in a statement.
But the ERT debacle is far from over for the two parties remaining in the government, with many of the studios effectively under occupation.
Yesterday, former staff flaunted a finance ministry request to vacate the broadcaster’s properties where, for the 10th day running, they continued with all-day news coverage and discussion, transmitted online via a livestream provided by the European Broadcasting Union. The ministry also said it had instructed the country’s central bank to pay sacked workers two months’ pay “as an advance on their due redundancy”.
The ERT issue and other problems ahead have led some analysts to suggest that the two-party coalition’s days are numbered, in no small part to Mr Samaras’s handling of the ERT crisis.
"This was a tactical move to put his coalition partners in a difficult situation, where they were left with the choice of toppling him or be humiliated. And in that he has succeeded," said Yanis Varoufakis, a professor of economics at the University of Athens.
Reformist
"This is a dead-in-the-water government, akin to that of former prime minister George Papandreou who was left with a five-seat majority in July 2011. Four months later he was out of office," he added.
"Mr Samaras has done the right thing, but his interest in reform has come far too late. Were he a true reformist, he would have backed the previous government. He's now supporting reform to stay in power," said George Tzogopoulos, a political and media analyst at Eliamep think tank.
But for his own party, Mr Samaras has demonstrated resolve and determination. "Our priority is stability and growth," said Yannis Smirlis, New Democracy's international relations secretary.
