Greek opposition calls for national government

(Vatican Radio) Greece’s conservative opposition party has called for a joint multi party administration after next Sunday’s general election to help restart national growth.

Listen to John Carr’s report:

The leader of the centre-right New Democracy party, Vangelis Meimarakis, issued the call during a one-on-one televised debate here in Athens last night with former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, who heads the Syriza party.  Both are almost tied in the opinion polls which show that neither can expect a governing majority.

Meimarakis, an experienced backroom politician and former Speaker of the Parliament, accused Tsipras of inconsistency after signing a third bailout deal with Greece’s creditors despite six months of lobbying against it.  Tsipras, for his part, pledged to renew the fight against corruption and tax evasion if he is re-elected. 

But neither candidate during the debate offered any solution to Greece’s intractable refugee and migrant problem, which nevertheless will loom large in the final week of the campaign.