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             Battles Ahead for Greek PM Weakened by State TV Crisis

   by Reuters

   Greece has avoided the uncertainty of an early election but the
   standoff over the state broadcaster's closure has weakened the prime
   minister and deepened mistrust in his fractious coalition.

   A court ordered the ERT broadcaster back on air late on Monday as Prime
   Minister Antonis Samaras and his partners moved towards a compromise,
   ending a six-day impasse and easing fears of snap polls that would have
   plunged Greece into a new crisis.

   Greeks and investors breathed a sigh of relief, with the main Athens
   stock index rising 2.8 percent on Tuesday, far outperforming European
   stock indexes, while yields of benchmark 10-year bonds were steady at
   10 percent.

   But the repercussions from Samaras's sudden shutdown of ERT in a bid to
   save money and please foreign lenders were set to grow as the three
   parties in the coalition resumed bickering over how exactly ERT must
   restart.

   Analysts say Samaras appeared to have gambled that he could force
   through ERT's shutdown since his allies could not afford to go to
   elections, but had to backtrack in the face of an open revolt by his
   coalition partners and growing public protests.

   "Samaras backed down and he must thank God for the court decision which
   allowed him to climb down without losing face," said political analyst
   John Loulis. "Samaras overplayed his hand - the coalition government
   will be even more fragile now than it already was."

   ''Samaras switched off ERT and fired its 2,600 staff to meet a public
   sector layoffs target set by Greece's lenders. ERT was "sinful",
   "wasteful" and "full of scandals", he said.

   An outcry from unions, journalists and the PASOK and Democratic Left
   parties in his coalition followed, with tensions defused only after
   three-hour talks on Monday and a court decision that came in time to
   save face for all three parties.

   The court said the government had the right to shut down ERT with the
   purpose of setting up a new, leaner successor. But the ruling also
   vindicated Samaras's partners by saying that a new, transitional
   broadcaster must immediately resume programs.

   "It's difficult to find a winner from all this," said ALCO leader
   Costas Panagopoulos. "ERT was a catalyst that revealed insufficient
   cooperation between coalition partners."Compromise with the help of a
   court decision," Greece's top-selling daily Ta Nea said on its front
   page.

   The indebted country is kept afloat by aid from the European Union and
   International Monetary Fund that allowed it to avoid bankruptcy last
   year. In return, Athens has promised a raft of reforms, including
   overhauling its bloated public sector.

   Reshuffle

   In return for their support, Samaras offered his partners in government
   a cabinet reshuffle and promised to update their coalition agreement to
   reassure them that it would operate in a more collegial way.

   However, the ERT crisis has yet to blow over. Its radio and television
   channels remain off air and the coalition disagrees over how exactly to
   implement the court decision.

   Political leaders have set a new meeting for Wednesday to iron out
   their differences.

   PASOK and Democratic Left insist that ERT must immediately go back on
   air exactly as before - similar to 24-hour broadcasts that ERT's staff
   have defiantly continued over the Internet during the shutdown.

   "Public television should have started operating yesterday, the radio
   and television shows should have started broadcasting as well as ERT's
   websites," Democratic Left said in a statement.  "All ERT frequencies
   should have been active. Not executing the temporary order is an
   illegal act."

   But Samaras's conservative New Democracy insists the transitional,
   stopgap broadcaster will run just a few ready-made programs, in line
   with a concession he had offered previously.

   "Even transmitting a logo would be enough to comply with the court
   decision," one New Democracy official told Reuters.

   Barely out of the woods from its last crisis, the coalition appeared to
   be gearing up for yet another battle on the issue.

   "They [New Democracy] are working to create the next crisis and we'll
   prevent that," PASOK deputy Dimitris Karydis said.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/greek-prime-minister-state-tv/1684484
   .html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/greek-prime-minister-state-tv/1684484.html