The Greek people will return to the polls in four Sundays. The Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, has decided that he will ask the President of the Republic, Carolos Papoulias, to call early elections on May 6th. Papademos himself declared it today on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers, shortly before going to the Head of State. "I asked for a proposal to President Papoulias to dissolve the chambers and call early elections on May 6," Papademos said.
The prime minister, former Vice-President of the ECB and former Governor of the Bank of Greece, has headed a coalition executive since November 2011, when he was called to deal with a situation that was now considered untenable. In less than six months Papademos managed to cut a large part of the Greek public debt, thanks to the agreement with the private sector, and to obtain an additional aid package from the Troika, for a total of about 230 billion euros for the Greek Treasury.
According to polls the conservative New Democracy party would be the favorite in the next elections. However, he would not get more than 20% of the vote, a percentage that would not allow him to govern with a large majority. A coalition with the smaller parties or a broad understanding with the Socialist Party, Pasok, will therefore be necessary.
