Two days ago, I posted a question: why the EU-partners did not support Samaras coalition government. Today Reuters comes to confirm my suspicion. That the EU-partners together with the International Monetary Fund literally pulled the carpet under Samaras’ feet by asking more austerity measures: “IMF and EU officials insisted on extra cuts or revenues in the 2015 budget.” Had PM Samaras accepted this “it would mean political suicide,” an official who participated in the negotiations told Reuters. And he claimed that the lenders did not want to give the bailout final disbursement of 7 billion euro to Greece, if an anti-austerity government (SYRIZA) would take over. Of course, if you’re part of the government negotiation team, you always end a discussion by blaming SYRIZA…. lol
Reuters: An impasse in Paris, a gamble in Athens: how Greece returned to crisis
“The collapse of talks in Paris on November 26th 2014 set off a month-long sequence of events leading to elections next week and proving Greece is still the region’s weak link.
At the tense meeting with Greek cabinet members to discuss exiting the four-year 240 billion euro aid package in December, a year early, International Monetary Fund and European Union officials insisted on extra cuts or revenues in the 2015 budget, according to people present.
Greek officials balked. The conservative-led government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had already imposed salary freezes, layoffs and special taxes. Any more austerity would be political suicide.
“They were giving us the impression that no matter what we did, they would not conclude the review,” one Greek official said on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of discussions between Athens and its lenders.
“After that Paris meeting, we knew it was over.”
EU and IMF spokespeople declined to comment for this story.
For the lenders, it would make little sense to declare the aid program a success and disburse the final tranche of over 7 billion euros in aid if an anti-bailout government was soon set to take power and abandon the pledges made so far.
But for Samaras, failing to exit the deal early, as he had promised, left him without a weapon to win over lawmakers in the February vote. It also weakened him in the eyes of the electorate, driving voters into the arms of the Syriza party. (full article)
However this is only part of the truth. On December 6th, the online edition of newspaper To Vima uploaded the e-mail of Finance Minister Gkikas Chardouvelis sent to Troika on December 6th offering a package of measures worth 980 million euro. The Troika demanded more measures in order to fill the budget gap. the Troika had estimated that the gap was 2.5 billion euro.
Among the measures the Greek side proposed were:
Value Added Tax increases in food, electricity, medicine, tickets, newspapers
V.A.T. increases in hotels from 6% to 13%
scraping the 30% reduction in solidarity tax
scraping the poverty allowance (EKAS) and other allowances and benefits
increasing of social insurance stamps to grant pension right
hikes in tax for alcohol drinks and cigarettes as of 1.1.12015
…and many more (via Left.gr)
So an approach to the truth is that the EU and the IMF knew very well that PM Samaras cannot apply much more austerity measures and that he would lose the President election in February.
The freezing of negotiations served also Samaras. Then had the presidential election taken place in February, Troika-Greece review would have been concluded in January and Samaras would lose both the presidential elections and the parliament elections in March because the additional austerity package would have been made public.
It was a one-way street ending in deadlock, anyway.
Therefore I am still wondering why the lenders now make statements in support of Samaras. How can I be so naive? They do not support Samaras and its bailout commitments. They only support the austerity program. With experiment in Greece’s lab continues….
An interesting approach to my posted question was made here:
“While the EU may have wanted to continue to support Samaras and the status quo, I feel it is the IMF which has forced their hand with its less political and more economical judgement on the viability of more loans to Greece.” (giveashite.com)
PS and we live happily ever after seeking the truth…
There are People who would say that Greek Voters should Not Vote for New Democracy or PASOK in this Election, because they both are Responsible for Mismanaging the Greek Economy for Decades by means of their Incompetence and their Corruption.
These People think that unless a Patriotic Greek Party wins a Comfortable Majority of the Seats, then there will be No Flexibility and No Integrity and No Benefit with the Negotiations with the European Union, because the Conservatives and the Socialists have Already Capitulated to Austerity before the Election, and that they are Long Time Puppets for Foreign Interests.
Even if the Anti Austerity Party Syriza were to win a Majority of the Seats in the Greek Parliament, then this does not mean that there will automatically be a Debt Default, with Greece leaving the Eurozone, which they do not want.
Even if Greece did leave the Eurozone, then Greece should remain a Member of the European Union and a Member of NATO, because Greece was a Member of NATO before the end of the Cold War, and the Promise that Anglo-America gave to President Mikhail Gorbachev and to the Rest of the World was that NATO would Not expand beyond Germany.
The European Union will make Many False Promises along with trying to Intimidate and Deceive the Greek Voters, as they have done on Many other Occasions, because Election Promises from the European Union are Not worth Listening to, and neither is it Proper to Reward Incompetence and Corruption, because Incompetence and Corruption has Not and will Not reward Voters.
There are Many Greek Voters who think that the Patriotic Syriza Party are the best Political Party in this Election for Managing the Economy of Greece.
The following few sentences should be out on a Word Document, and it should be placed where Ukrainians and other Europeans like Greeks for their Election can read it in their own Language, and it can be Sponsored by the Anonymous group called The Concerned Citizens for Better Government.
What has happened with Ukraine, is what has happened with several European Countries like Bankrupt Greece and some Countries who were Colonies of England or Anglo-America, and who are the Secret Puppets and the Secret Colonies of England or Anglo-America, and there are People who think that Anglo-America may order their Puppets to try to Deceive or Intimidate Greek Voters for the Election.
We know that England and America have been Spying on Countries for a long time, and they have always been able to find People who will be their Puppets.
They have done this by Discreetly asking for Volunteers who Crave to be Very Wealthy to agree to be Filmed in an Act of Pedophilia as a Guarantee that they will follow Orders from Anglo-America.
These Puppets of Anglo-America know that they will go to jail if they Disobey Anglo-America, and this will not only affect the Puppets, but the families of the Puppets.
The Anglo-American Plutocrats have either Ownership or Control of the Western Mainstream Media, and those ‘Journalists’ who are employed there understand what they need to write if they want to keep their high paying jobs, which also provides for Secret Bribes.
Once this Method was Entrench by Anglo-America Decades ago, then most of the times, only the Corrupt are Allowed to become Secret Puppet Politicians, and by this Method Anglo-America makes smaller Nations their Puppets in order to Exploit them.
There are People who think that Ukraine needs to be a Federalized and Decentralized and Militarily Neutral Country, which recognizes that Crimea is the last Territory to receive its Proper, Just, and Democratic Independence from the former Soviet Union.
Those are the few sentences that Should be put on a Word Document so that it fills the page, and that would mean that the lettering would be large enough to read even from a distance.
This Document can be left on Buses or at Shopping Centers or placed in Letterboxes, or recited using a Public Telephone to Person selected at random, or it can be mentioned by Callers on Talk Back Radio, Blogs, and etc.
This Document is a guide, and it can and should be improved on, and it should be modified as needed for Different Countries.
This is why all European Politicians should sign the Statement for European Democracy which says: “While I Deny All such Accusations regarding myself, I must Admit that it Could Be Possible that Some Politicians in my Country may have been Bribed with Money, and they Volunteered to be Secretly Filmed having sex with a child to receive that Money as a Person who can Guarantee that they will be a Puppet, and they are now Traitors and Fifth Columnists against their Own People, because they do not want to go to jail.”
The D Day Normandy Landings and Auschwitz Commemoration are Good Times for People who want to Prevent All Humans from Dying in WW 3 to gather at a Convention or Conference, where European Politicians will sign that statement every year as a sign that they want Better Government.
The Normandy Landings and Auschwitz Commemorations should not be forgotten, it is More Important to ensure that Europe considers the Future after what has happened to Ukraine being overtaken by Puppets of Anglo-America.
This is why Many People think that because of Puppet Ukraine and other European Countries that there should be another D Day or Democracy Day to annually sign the Statement for European Democracy.