Parties seek to maintain unity amid disputes

As government officials continued tough talks with troika envoys, a key adviser to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras sought to play down a dispute between members of the two parties in the coalition about which was to blame for Greece’s economic crisis as well as comments by a key conservative cadre suggesting that a possible cooperation with ultra-right Golden Dawn was not out of the question.

After comments on Mega TV channel in which he vehemently opposed the stance taken by ex-Parliament Speaker Vyron Polydoras on GD, Samaras’s adviser Chrysanthos Lazaridis struck a milder note and also sought to play down speculation about friction between Samaras and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos.

“Everyone has the right to their own opinion,” Lazaridis said, adding that Samaras and Venizelos have “both decided to leave behind their disagreements about what happened in the past.”

In a related development, the Socialists received an audit of the party’s finances, carried out by five accounting firms at the request of PASOK, whose debt stands at 114 million euros.

Venizelos asked for the report to be shelved until the next session of the party’s political council, which is not expected for several weeks, in an apparent bid to avert internal dissent.