Main opposition leader and Syriza chief Alexis Tsipras called on Greek government to end any discussion with the representatives of the EC-ECB-IMF troika, and propose an EU Summit meeting to focus on a different strategy for Greece.
Addressing the Syriza parliamentary group on Monday, Tsipras voiced his party’s determination to engage in dynamic action against privatisations and made a special reference to the case of ATEbank, calling it a “premeditated crime”.
He also referred to the Hellenic Postbank, stressing that “private interests and their stooges” will be met with his party’s strong reaction.
The Syriza leader further lashed out at the three-party government, accusing it of letting time pass instead of negotiating, effectively accepting the country’s “total isolation”, as he claimed.
He spoke of “imminent bankruptcy measures,” adding that “the programme has failed.” He also said that the memorandum has gone bankrupt and “its architects, like the IMF, are the first to jump ship.”
“If (German Chancellor) Merkel wishes us to go bankrupt, it would be best if we dare her to say so herself and let her shoulder the consequences,” Tsipras before pointing out that “the memorandum and the 72 economic measures announced before the elections, will lead the country to a social collapse come fall and those who do not realize it are simply inadequate and dangerous.” (AthensNews Agency via AthensNews)
The call of Tsipras comes a day prior Troika’s visit to Athens for curcial talks with Samaras government. On austerity measures, missed fiscal targets and bailout tranche of 31 billion euro. What else….
The Troika policies have failed because they were flawed to start with. The whole package is based on the standard IMF tactic of austerity and privatization, with as its primary objective the safeguarding of the banks and their loans. (Ever wonder why a bank will insist you insure yourself against everything, with their insurance company of course, before they might give you a loan? But can’t be bothered to do the same themselves? Obviously knowing that when it goes wrong they can get their political friends to pull a few strings and let others pay for the damage…).
Anyway, the reason why the whole package is flawed from inception is because it misses one vital ingredient, a corner stone of every IMF package anywhere, THE ABILTIY TO DE-VALUE. Being tied in to the Euro, that freedom and vital part of the remedy was denied to Greece, Portugal, Ireland, soon Spain and Italy. And we are living the consequences of this “oversight”.
The other big mistake is that the Troika calculated that the Greek economy would contract in 2010 and then rebound and grow by 1.1% in 2011 and 2.1% in 2012 (thanks to austerity, of course). In reality, the Troika misjudged the decline in GDP by a whopping 12%, and flatly refuses to accept that this is a direct result of the flawed program rather than the Greek peoples unwillingness to do something about the situation. Add to that catastrophic apathy of the EU favoured government and their refusal to do anything other than renage on their promises, and we now find that our “friends” are quite willing to throw away the baby with the bath water. We already have Herr Roesler , Herr Westerwelle, and many other shouting “Raus” in various ways.
Tsipras is right on calling for totally different measures, on a totally different basis. He should also call for non-interference in any election anywhere, and start with immediately producing a blue print for complete overhaul of the Greek political system and the permanent removal of its present players. This blueprint should be offered as part of the next election program, which he’s going to need soon anyway. Because, despite the enormous and catastrophic errors made by the EU and the Troika, Greek political establishment has a lot to answer for as well. And unless that is tackled head on, I doubt if any reasonable approach like Tsipras’s suggestion is going to be met with a reasonable answer…
Whatever you think of the Troika reforms (imho it’s a mixed bag), fact is that neither the Greek government nor the opposition voiced any better ideas.
The ONLY better idea to the MoU was voiced, many times over. Kill it, and lets NEGOTIATE a method based on sustainable payments through economic growth instead of simply barking orders to comply with unsustainable dictats.
Everybody, except for Merckel & Schauble Inc knows that if you don’t leave a child pocket money, it can’t buy sweets. Depending on the child, it might try to obtain them through other means.
None of these measures were intended to put the Greek economy back on it’s feet. You do not need to be a wizz-kid economist to see that lark. This was is a smash and grab exercise to get as much money back to the banks as possible, irrespective of and with total disregard of the effect it has on the ordinary people.
Well, IF the Greek governments would show any initiative to come up with realistic, soundly financed reforms, you would have a point, Ephi. But all evidence shows that they don’t, and only act in the every last minute of any deadline, with mostly lipservices but hardly any real action, and only after a tremendous amount of “barnking orders” and threats of harsh consequences. Come on, be serious, being nice doesn’t work if Greek politicians are involved.
Sure, the Troika reforms leave a lot to be desired, and it would be much more efficient if those who should know best about the conditions in Greece, the Greek government and the administration, would play a more active role. But this simply isn’t the reality we’re facing now, but just wishful thinking. In order to deal with the huge forces trying to preserve the status quo, for totally selfish reasons, the Troika approach is probably the only one which at least has a chance to work. You should blame the reactionaries, not those who push for reforms.