Election delay discussion still rumbling - Pasok and PM L Papademos pushing this outcome. Pasok and New Democracy show where priorities stand.....while the average greek suffers , the political parties are set to approve massive subsidies for themselves Monday ! This should blow up in their faces.....

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_06/04/2012_436938

MPs set to approve 30mln-euro cash injection for parties

Parliament is due to vote Monday on whether political parties should receive 30 million euros in state funding as a lump sum before the elections amid vehement complaints from smaller groupings in the House.
The legislation that would award the five parties that entered Parliament in 2009 three installments of their public funding in one go was submitted to the House on Friday and immediately provoked outrage from several parties.
“This is a monstrosity,” said the leader of the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), Giorgos Karatzaferis, who added that the funding should not be divided in proportion to the percentages they received in the 2009 general elections. According to opinion polls, support for PASOK has more than halved since then and backing for New Democracy has fallen by about a third.
PASOK and New Democracy representatives argued that the funding was necessary so the parties could mount election campaigns. “A party cannot say that people should reconsider what money they provide for elections because this would put in doubt the conditions for a representative democracy,” said PASOK’s Petros Efthimiou.
“This amendment will enrage people even further,” said Democratic Alliance leader Dora Bakoyannis. “PASOK and ND have not changed their attitude and continue to provoke the people. At the same time you are filling people with despair through your policies, you are not asking for the repayment of bank loans of 250 million euros taken out by your parties.” Greece’s parties have received some 550 million euros from public coffers during the past decade but PASOK and ND owe about 250 million euros to their banks.
“We are asking citizens to make sacrifices and we want to have polling companies and luxury offices at our disposal?” said Democratic Left MP Yiannis Amoiridis. “This is a time when we should be more humble.”

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras is due to speak in the Athens suburb of Aegaleo today, while PASOK yesterday welcomed back ousted deputy Mariliza Xenoyiannakopoulou. and..... http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/54740 Press Watch, April 7th by Makis Papasimakopoulos 7 Apr 2012 file photo Off we go then to the election parade, with time running out on a final date and the front pages of the Greek press all getting quite itchy typing fingers about the whole thing.   I Apopsi, sees New Democracy head Antonis Samaras finding a way to get ahead coming up to the electional show down. Surprisingly, it’s all about using the Trojan horse-esque method of people within main “enemy” Pasok to strengthen his position. There have not been few voices of dissent from within Evangelos Venizelos’ party concerning the memorandum and that’s exactly where Samaras is aiming at, in a “you’re the wrong force to lead, even your own men think so” masterstroke. Or so Apopsithinks. Nothing like sitting back and waiting for someone to drop the ball at a crucial time, in order to make that last ditch run to the end zone. Black background lovers Avriani, not only put their money on the 6th of May as the definite date of elections, but point an accusing finger at Pasok and current Prime Minister Lucas Papademos for stalling. Their front page reads “Pasok and Papademos should leave the electional tricks aside”. On the bottom left hand corner, a tasty little quote from Nicolas Sarkozy, who has apparently told potential voters to choose him so as to avoid “ending up like the Greeks”. Now, now Nicolas, be nice.   Eleftheros Tipos sees a dark cloud forming over the coming elections, with their main story on their front page referring to background talk about postponing the grand ballot ball, a scenario which apparently finds many supporters. That is, unless you’re in New Democracy, who the paper informs us has threatened to withdraw all party members from the Papademos government should this delay materialise. In a story that makes up some side inches, we’re informed that Fernando Santos, the current coach of Greece’s national football team, got a 45% pay raise, taking his hefty little bag of cash to 650.000 euros. A fairly nice little bundle if you can get your hands on it.   Ethnos also stays on the election topic, although their take on it is slightly more “European”, with their story noting the increased dissatisfaction emanating from the continent, over Greece’s preoccupation with the elections and how that is negatively affecting much needed reforms. Meanwhile, their second most eminent story focuses on Nikos Fotopoulos’ comments concerning the spending scandal sweeping through the National Power Company (DEH), which has seen their worker’s union being accused of grossly overspending company funds, for such wonderfully useful things like travelling, dinner hosting, more travelling, more hosting and just generally having a good time. On the taxpayer’s buck and time. Fotopoulos, the union’s big kahuna, is quoted as saying “we have made mistakes”. Actually I think what Mr. Fotopoulos is actually looking for is “we’ve committed a crime”. But “we have made mistakes” we’ll do just fine, if they are judged correctly by the Greek justice system.   Dimokratia has Fotopoulos playing a more prominent role on their front page than Ethnos, using the DEH scandal as their main story, with their headline reading “The rich living Left”. It is of course interesting to point out here, that all this time, with workers of every type struggling to come to terms with the crisis, Fotopoulos has featured heavily in the media, his loud mouthed bravado a blunt instrument banging on all political doors. His stance has been unwavering, verbally machine gunning all who dared doubt the rights of workers everywhere. It now seems however, that Fotopoulos has as much in common with members of Greece’s struggling workforce as Queen Elizabeth. Shocking I’m sure.   Kathimerini wraps it all up for today, by focusing on the effects the PNO announced strike will have on the tourist trade. “Tourism held hostage by PNO”, their headline reads, with its sub informing us that despite “pleas” to not go ahead with their strikes in the heart of the tourism-heavy Easter period, they will do just that, unless of course a dramatic U-turn is achieved within the next few days. Stranger things have happened.