Greek government’s new casualty

Greece’s three-week-old government suffered its third casualty yesterday when the Junior Labour Minister resigned in a dispute over the handling of key talks with EU-IMF auditors.

Nikos Nikolopoulos said he disagreed with the negotiation framework with the so-called “troika” of auditors from the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank, who are holding talks with government officials on a massive bailout.

In a letter released by Greek media, Mr Nikolopoulos, from Prime Minister Antonis Samaris’s conservative party, said “distortions” in labour and pension issues had to be addressed in the auditor talks from the start.

Greece’s new conservative-led coalition government has been forced to tread carefully in its negotiations, as European peers have threatened to cut off further loan funds if promised reforms are not carried out.

The resignation is the latest incident to plague the new government, which is conducting talks with its international creditors on revising the terms of its multi-billion-euro bailout.

The designated Finance Minister fell ill and had to be replaced shortly after the June 17 election and the deputy Merchant Marine Minister was forced to resign a few days later in a conflict of interest case involving the ownership of an offshore company.

Mr Samaras was also hospitalised for major eye surgery immediately after being sworn in, which sidelined him for nearly two weeks.