Greek Election Campaign to Begin This Week After Lafazanis Bid

A group of rebel Syriza lawmakers will get a shot Monday to forge a government just three days after forming a new party, even as their leader admits they’ll fail, opening the way for a formal election campaign this week.

   President Prokopis Pavlopoulos is set to invite former Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis Monday to form a new administration within three days, part of the constitutional procedure set in motion by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s resignation last week.

   After eight months in power, Tsipras stepped down Aug. 20, starting a process that will take Greeks back to the ballot box in September. Tsipras’s goal is to renew his mandate after his capitulation to the euro area’s conditions for a bailout caused his own Syriza party to split.

   While Lafazanis said Saturday he’ll use the full three days to attempt to form a new administration, he already acknowledged defeat, noting that “our differences with the parties who voted for the memoranda are unbridgeable and there’s no chance of any cooperation.”

   “Lafazanis will probably take all of the time he needs in order to attract publicity for his new party,” said Dimitris Sotiropoulos, an associate professor of political science at the University of Athens. “He’ll want to make his presence felt.”

Πηγή: bloomberg.com