Greece govt. holds reshuffle talks after party defects<\/p>\n
Greek leaders have held talks on an imminent cabinet reshuffle after the Democratic Left Party defected from the country\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s ruling coalition government.\n<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the Greek Ethnos<\/i> daily said \u00c5\u201cthe reshuffle is a matter of days or even hours.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Conservative Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has vowed to continue the government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s path after the Democratic Left Party defected over the closure of the state broadcaster, ERT.\n<\/p>\n
“No one wants elections right now … we will do our full (four-year) term,” Samaras said in a televised address.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Reports suggest that the reshuffle is expected to bring socialists, including former finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, into the government.<\/p>\n
Athens announced the surprise closure of ERT on Tuesday, June 11. The move, which is part of the Greek government’s unpopular austerity measures, has left the ERT\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s nearly 2,700 staff suspended.\n<\/p>\n
The Greek government claimed ERT had become a \u00c5\u201chaven of waste.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Following the closure, ERT journalists also refused to leave the broadcaster’s headquarters and continued their programs live on the Internet into Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
On June 14, Samaras offered to partially reinstate ERT, after protests grew across the country.\n<\/p>\n
Days later, Greece’s top administrative court told the government to restore public broadcasts.\n<\/p>\n
The prime minister\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s coalition partners have also called for the immediate restoration of ERT broadcasts, but Samaras has so far refused to reinstate it in its old form.\n<\/p>\n
ERT began broadcasting in 1938, running three domestic TV channels, four national radio stations, as well as regional radio stations and an external service, Voice of Greece.\n<\/p>\n
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