Greek leaders entered a second day of closed-door political talks yesterday and were under intense pressure to ensure that the country doesn’t go bankrupt in the next few weeks and remains in the eurozone.
The Socialist government of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who narrowly survived a parliamentary confidence vote early on Saturday, said it has started talks to form a temporary coalition to run the country for the next four months. The government was also scheduled to hold a Cabinet meeting at 2pm GMT.
Papandreou, mid-way into a four-year term, has promised early elections by March and has said he would be prepared to step aside.
However, conservative leader of the main opposition New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, said yesterday no talks between the two parties were taking place and reiterated his stance that Papandreou must resign before any coalition discussions can take place.
Samaras made his latest comments after a brief meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, a mainly ceremonial figure who has called for collaboration between the two main parties.
Greece has been surviving since May last year on a first 110 billion euro (US$151.6 billion) bailout. However, its financial crisis was so severe that a second rescue was needed as the country remained locked out of international bond markets by sky-high interest rates and facing an unsustainable national debt increase.
The new EU deal, agreed on by the 27-nation bloc on Oct. 27 after marathon negotiations, would give Greece an additional 130 billion euro in rescue loans and bank support. It would also see banks write off 50 percent of Greek debt, valued at about 100 billion euro. The goal is to reduce Greece’s debts to the point where the country is able to handle its finances without relying on bailouts.
Greece’s lawmakers must now approve the new rescue deal, putting intense pressure on the country’s leaders to swiftly end the political crisis so parliament can convene and put the debt agreement to a vote.
“In these critical moments, the two [main] parties are merely wasting time,” lawmaker Giorgos Kontoyannis said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
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