Greek former Energy Minister and leader of the leftist Popular Unity party Panagiotis Lafazanis (front) arrives for a meeting with Evangelos Meimarakis (R), leader of the conservative New Democracy party at the parliament in Athens, Greece, August 22, 2015.STOYAN NENOV/Reuters
A group of rebel Syriza lawmakers will get a shot Monday to forge a government just three days after forming a new party, even as their leader admits they'll fail, opening the way for a formal election campaign this week.
President Prokopis Pavlopoulos is set to invite former Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis Monday to form a new administration within three days, part of the constitutional procedure set in motion by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's resignation last week.
After eight months in power, Mr. Tsipras stepped down Aug. 20, starting a process that will take Greeks back to the ballot box in September. Mr. Tsipras's goal is to renew his mandate after his capitulation to the euro area's conditions for a bailout caused his own Syriza party to split.
While Mr. Lafazanis said Saturday he'll use the full three days to attempt to form a new administration, he already acknowledged defeat, noting that "our differences with the parties who voted for the memoranda are unbridgeable and there's no chance of any co-operation."
"Lafazanis will probably take all of the time he needs in order to attract publicity for his new party," said Dimitris Sotiropoulos, an associate professor of political science at the University of Athens. "He'll want to make his presence felt."
Elected in January on an anti-austerity platform, Mr. Tsipras suffered a revolt from within his own party after pushing through the kind of tax increases and spending curbs that he had been vociferously against while in opposition.
A group of at least 25 Syriza lawmakers led by Mr. Lafazanis abandoned the party to create a new movement called Popular Unity that is now the third-largest party in the Greek parliament.
"We won't accept being in the euro area and having bailout programs imposed on us," Mr. Lafazanis told reporters in Athens on Aug. 21 at the movement's inaugural press conference. If resisting the bailout means Greece exiting the euro area, "this is in no way a catastrophe. It's a path that can create hope and prospects for our country."
The invitation to Mr. Lafazanis to form a new administration will follow the efforts over the weekend of main opposition leader Evangelos Meimarakis to cobble together a big enough majority coalition to take a stab at governing. His lawmakers, combined with those of other pro-European opposition parties, total 106 in the 300-seat parliament. His three-day mandate ends Monday.
Mr. Tsipras declined Sunday an invitation to meet Mr. Meimarakis to discuss a possible coalition, telling him there's no point for such a meeting as there's no margin for convergence in the programs of the Syriza and New Democracy parties, a Greek government official said.
Mr. Tsipras also told him that there's no possibility to form a government from the present Greek parliament, the official said.
With little-to-no chance of Mr. Lafazanis succeeding, the formal election campaign process can begin by the end of the week and a caretaker government appointed. The most likely date for the national ballot is Sept. 20, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said.
Greek media have meanwhile speculated that Vassiliki Thanou, president of the Supreme Court, is the most likely choice to be appointed caretaker prime minister. If so, she would become Greece's first female premier.
A September election "would occur before the first program review in October and may well hamper and delay the technical work and political decisions necessary for its completion," Fitch Ratings said Aug. 21.