ATHENS – "There is absolutely no political reason to resort to a renewal of the popular mandate," State Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Monday in an interview with Skai TV.

He also noted that "a government reshuffle should not be done in the heat of the moment," ruling out this possibility as well.

As for the opening of primary schools, he said that "at present we do not have sufficient data for a completely clear picture."

Regarding the scenarios of early elections, the Minister of State stressed: "I have expressed my personal opinion, regardless of what the prime minister will do. At the moment, as far as the issue of holding early elections is concerned, there is absolutely no political reason to resort to a renewal of the popular mandate. I think that this would give entirely the wrong message to society, that we are still following a logic of exploiting political gains, when the country needs to move forward steadily."