Refusal by the Greek Parliament’s president, Nikos Voutsis, on Wednesday evening to allow Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos to respond to criticism against him by the main opposition leader sparked heightened speculation afterwards of a rift between the former and the leftist government’s top leadership.
Both Voutsis and Tsakalotos belong to the ruling SYRIZA party and were elected to Parliament from its candidate lists.
Tsakalotos, a UK-trained trained and based economics professor before taking up radical leftist politics in crisis-battered Greece, has been the focus of political scrutiny over the recent period in Athens, given the current impasse in relations with creditors over a now delayed second review of the Greek program.
“A difference of opinion between the prime minister (Alexis Tsipras) and the finance minister is apparent… He (Tsipras) proved that what ND was saying about the negotiations is true… When the finance minister was maintaining that 80 percent of the issues up for negotiation were resolved, a non paper circulated by the Maximos Mansion (the premier’s office) confirmed that only 35 percent (of outstanding issues) had been closed,” ND spokesman Vassilis Kikilias said.
Tsakalotos initially demanded an opportunity to respond to criticism against him, personally, by ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Voutsis at first refused, and when an opportunity later arose during the debate on bank loans to political parties and mass media, the former declined to speak.
