Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, the head of the small right-wing party that props up the current government, on Wednesday continued to generated political “waves” regarding the recently concluded fYRoM “name issue” agreement, saying he’ll request an extended majority of 180 MPs to ratify the pact “when and if it comes to Parliament”.
Kammenos’ rightist-populist Independent Greeks’ (AN.EL) is walking a political “tightrope” between opposition to the use of the name “Macedonia” in any composite name agreement, while at the same time attempting to maintain the coalition government’s mandate amid its fast sinking approval ratings.
He also requested an investigation by prosecutors into what he called “threats and pressure” applied against his party’s MPs and cadres by what he termed “neo-fascists” and “members of criminal rings”.
In a related development, a spokeswoman for main opposition New Democracy (ND) party expressed a view that the Greek prime minister has accepted a “bad agreement” over the fYRoM “name issue”.
The spokeswoman, Maria Spyraki, also underlined that the “Tsipras-Kammenos accepted what no other Greek government has accepted so far since the issue first arose, namely, a Macedonian nation and Macedonian language. ND will not ratify the agreement that Mr. Tsipras and Mr. Kammenos are obliged to bring to Parliament.”
