Health Minister on haircut, qualified majority
The upcoming haircut of Greek debt will not lead to losses for Greek social security funds Health Minister Andreas Loverdos said on Monday night speaking on Skai Television?s New Folders.
The Health Minister noted that while a haircut did not translate into a gift on behalf of Greece?s European partners, any discussion was premature as final decisions were expected to be reached in Brussels on Wednesday. The country must carry out all that it has pleged, Loverdos said, including the midterm fiscal plan and a wave of new austerity measures ratified by Parliament last week.
Regarding a joint statement issued by Loverdos, Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou and Transport Minister Yiannis Ragousis urging George Papandreou to speed up reforms and take on labor union, the Health Minister noted that the move was not intended as internal criticism, but as political intervention based on their respective ministerial responsibilities.
On the subject of the euro deal requiring a 180 vote in Parliament, as Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos indicated on Monday, the Health Minister said that while there was no legal binding to do so, if the qualified majority issue was raised and the deal did not reach 180 votes in Parliament, it would still be ratified if voted by the majority, but that the government would then have to call for elections.
