The talks between SYRIZA chief Alexis Tsipras and Democratic Left president Fotis Kouvelis spurred new rumors of cooperation between the two parties ahead of the prospect of snap elections. Kouvelis on Monday told party MPs and members that the two men have had several telephone conversations in the last few days where they discussed the latest political developments and the possibility of an electoral cooperation. Kouvelis has said that he will not vote in favor of nominee Stavros Dimas in today’s second ballot for presidency. Discussions between the two parties chairmen had started in the summer. Some Democratic Left members had objected to a possible concurrence between the two parties. Also, three of them have expressed their reservations about not voting for president, as the party line dictates. Namely, Thomas Psyrras, Niki Founta and Nikos Tsoukalis have said that they may vote for president under conditions. However, if parliament fails to elect president, the two leaders decided to cooperate in the upcoming elections. DL party members have said that they agree with the views of SYRIZA leader as he expressed them in his latest Reuters interview. The basic guidelines set by the Democratic Left in dialogue with SYRIZA is a stable European course for Greece and a new agreement with our European partners on the bailout program. The central committee of the Democratic Left will convene on January 3 to discuss the line to follow for the upcoming elections. Analysts find the absence of MP Thomas Psyrras from yesterday’s joint meeting of the parliamentary group and executive committee “suspicious.” However, Psyrras assured members that he will follow the party line and vote against the presidential nominee in today’s ballot. After the end of the joint meeting, which lasted more than five hours, the following statement was issued, the author of which is limited to the party stance in voting for the election of the president of the republic and all the electoral partnerships: “The political developments, such as those formed after the first ballot for the presidential election, were discussed by the Executive Committee and the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Left. The members present decided unanimously that Members of Democratic Left will vote against the proposed presidential nominee in tomorrow’s second round, and in the third of December 29, on the grounds that the Democratic Left does not intend to contribute to maintaining political deadlock.”
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