“Syriza is undermining democracy is Greece,” and the “Tsipras government has mounted an attack on the rule of law,” writes former prime minister Antonis Samaras from conservative New Democracy. In an opinion article posted on Financial Times, the prime minister who closed state broadcaster ERT overnight in June 2013is unfolding his thoughts about the Tsipras government and why it is undermining democracy.
Some excerpts
“The government led by the radical leftwing party Syriza, in coalition with the rightwing nationalist Independent Greeks, has mounted an unprecedented attack on independent institutions and the rule of law.
Syriza won power in January 2015 after waging a vicious campaign against the government I led — a coalition between the centre-right New Democracy and the social democrats of Pasok.
Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza ignored the fact that we managed to turn the economy round and, among other successes, brought government spending under control. In opposition, Syriza refused to vote in favour of bills that aimed to stem the haemorrhaging of public funds.
[…]
A desperate Mr Tsipras decided, as a last resort, to try to eliminate his rivals. An ex-member of the Communist Youth of Greece and a confirmed admirer of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, the prime minister has sought to turn a case involving the Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis from an international health sector scandal into an opportunity for political mudslinging.
[…]
We have been singled out on the basis of vague and groundless allegations made in the testimonies of three “protected” witnesses.
Syriza is setting an alarming precedent: two ex-prime ministers are being persecuted on the basis of unfounded allegations made by anonymous protected witnesses. The aim of Mr Tsipras and his colleagues is to discredit their rivals.
They obviously do not care that the ultimate victim of their actions will be Greek democracy.
The Novartis case is the final chapter in the story of a failing government of demagogues who have tried to take advantage of democratic rule in order to install a Latin-American type illiberal leftist regime in Greece. They must not be allowed to win.
full article at FinancialTimes
If I understand the former PM right, Syriza is undermining democracy
for using testimonies by protected witnesses, a status perfectly legal in Greece as the relevant law was approved by the majority of the Greek Palriament.
for having come to power after waging a vicious campaign against the ND-PASOK coalition government
and
for taking advantage of democratic rule in order to install a Latin-American type illiberal leftist regime
