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1) Greek debt crisis brings discord within Syriza as Tsipras hopes for leap of faith Prime minister’s proposals to creditors prove so divisive among MPs that even if deal is accepted by lenders he faces a battle to gain his parliament’s approval by Helena Smith in Athens The Guardian, June 24 <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/24/greece-debt-crisis-syriza-tsipras-leap-of-faith> The internal faultlines in Greece’s governing Syriza party grew wider on Wednesday as its members digested the sheer scale of concessions being demanded to avert a bankruptcy and remain in the eurozone. With the battle lines now firmly drawn between Athens and its creditors, senior Syriza figures took rhetorical potshots at the tactics employed by the debt-stricken country’s lenders as prime minister Alexis Tsipras attended back-to-back talks in Brussels. “The European Union’s neoliberal elite has lost touch with reality,” said the interior minister, Nikos Voutsis. “Every day they argue among themselves or bring issues that supposedly had been solved, or put to one side, on the table. It is an unacceptable situation that has to stop.” Voutsis was speaking in the Greek parliament as Syriza’s secretariat met in an urgent session to discuss the reforms Tsipras has proposed to reach a deal with lenders. An agreement would unlock the bailout funds desperately needed to avoid default: Athens must pay €1.6bn (£1.1bn) to the IMF next Tuesday. The mood at the party’s headquarters was anything but upbeat. While Alekos Flambouraris, the minister of state and a close Tsipras ally, spoke of the need to endorse an agreement that was both necessary and honourable, insiders said it was now clear the anti-austerity movement was fighting an existential battle. The government’s proposed measures – a combination of tax increases and budget cuts outlining €8bn in savings over the next 17 months – is so at odds with party ideas it would require a near-impossible leap of faith to get them passed. “And any agreement that is reached will have to be endorsed by Syriza’s internal organs,” the party’s secretary, Tassos Koronakis, was quoted as saying. “The government is fighting a very tough battle against unbelievable tactics of blackmail and unprecedented credit strangulation.” In Brussels on Wednesday night, Greek officials described creditors’ latest demands – for more pension cuts and VAT hikes – as “nothing short of barbaric”. Even if lenders accept a compromise, it is clear that Tsipras will have a battle on his hands to get the deal ratified by his national parliament, as both the EU and IMF have demanded. At least 10 MPs have indicated that they will oppose a deal if it is based on the 47-page package of proposals the government has made. At least 10 more are wavering, and it remains unclear what hardliners, gathered under the Left Platform faction led by the energy minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis, will also do. The former communist, in effect the third most powerful man in Greece’s government, has remained uncharacteristically coy about the stance he will take, saying he will only decide once a deal is reached. Zoe Konstantopoulou, the 300-seat parliament’s president, who also holds sway over the party, has similarly refused to divulge which way she will go. In the outcry over the measures, those within Syriza who openly advocate a return to the drachma have been emboldened, with several holding neighbourhood meetings to denounce the government’s retreat across its own “red lines” on pensions and VAT. “The only way to keep Syriza united is to avoid capitulation,” said Stathis Kouvelakis, a member of Syriza’s central committee. Echoing the complaints of a growing number of factions, Kouvelakis, who teaches political theory at King’s College London, said it was clear that creditors wanted to “break the party politically”. “What we are seeing is a pseudo-negotiation, a relentless effort to always impose more and more concessions,” he said, speaking from London. “They are never satisfied: they want everything and they want it now because they want to destroy Syriza.” If Tsipras were to go ahead with the policies, Europe’s first radical left government would pay a heavy price, Kouvelakis believes. “It will be the end of breaking with austerity politics and exploring alternatives – the whole experiment will come to an end.” 2.a) SYRIZA Political Secretariat: Creditors’ Proposals are ‘Absurd’ by A. Makris The Greek Reporter, June 24 <http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/06/24/syriza-political-secretariat-creditors-proposals-are-absurd> The institutions’ latest proposals are “absurd” and exceed the limits of Greek society’s endurance, the SYRIZA Political Secretariat concluded on Wednesday after a sweeping discussion on the proposals and the next moves for the Greek government and the party. Sources at the meeting reported harsh criticism on the creditors’ demands, as well as the government’s handling, after SYRIZA Secretary Tasos Koronakis and State Minister Alekos Flambouraris addressed the meeting. Speakers said that an agreement will be extremely painful for the Greek society and hard to support, since it contradicts the party’s positions, and several [p]referred to resort to snap elections. They stressed that any agreement must make a clear reference to debt restructuring, otherwise it will be very hard to accept it. If Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is able to come away with a creditors’ commitment concerning the country’s debt, many might have a change of heart when it comes to a vote, since it was considered a key issue for dealing with the crisis, party sources added. Other party members emphasized that any agreement must be sustainable and able to resolve problems, not create new obstacles and problems down the line. The meeting decided to convene SYRIZA’s Central Committee on Friday and the party’s Parliamentary group the following day to state their opinions on the agreement, if a proposed agreement is reached. Addressing the meeting earlier, Koronakis said that any proposed agreement must be evaluated by the party as a whole, based on SYRIZA’s mandate from the Greek voters, while Flambouraris said the government’s goal is a “decent” one. (source: ana-mpa) 2.b) SYRIZA: Tempers flare amid calls to reject government proposal to lenders A majority of SYRIZA officials of the party's political secretariat argued they would reject the gov't's proposal without a deal over the debt. by Nikos Tsitsas Times of Change, Greece, June 24 <http://www.thetoc.gr/eng/politics/article/syriza-tempers-flare-amid-calls-to-reject-government-proposal-to-lenders> Tensions ran high during a meeting today of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA, with party officials both from the hardline Left Platform, as well more moderate members stating that their support for the agreement proposed by the government will be contingent on whether it is linked to a pledge on the part of the lenders to reduce Greece’s public debt. According to sources who spoke to TheTOC, the majority of the members of the political secretariat launched into harsh criticism of the measures which are included in the proposals submitted by Alexis Tsipras to the lenders on Monday morning, describing them as recessionary measures that constituted a deepening of the Memorandum. The Left Platform meanwhile presented the Minister of State Alekos Flambouraris with an ultimatum, threatening to vote against the agreement if it does not include a commitment for a restructuring of the debt. Even more moderate officials loyal to Alexis Tsipras were intensely critical of the proposals. One leading official even presented three conditions for the proposal to be passed in parliament: a debt restructuring, the announcement of a development package with European Commission funds and for legislation to be tabled swiftly restoring collective bargaining rights for workers. Mr Flambouraris, according to party insiders, admitted that, “If there is an agreement it will be painful,” leaving open the possibility of a deal falling through. What SYRIZA HQ says about the political secretariat meeting: "During today’s meeting of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA developments were discussed in the negotiations. "In his statements, the secretary of the Central Committee, Tasos Koronakis noted that the government is fighting tough battles against incredible blackmail and unprecedented pressure tactics. The new compromise proposal of the government demonstrates its will for a solution even though it includes painful elements that are on the edge of the limits of what society can withstand, as we have collectively described them. Finally, he noted that the final proposal for an agreement must be evaluated by all of SYRIZA’s organs on the basis of the mandate that the government has received and on the basis of it sustainability, including the branch that concerns development and the debt. "Alekos Flambouraris stressed the desire of the government is for a respectable agreement which will put the burden on high incomes as opposed to low incomes, while describing the latest demands of the lenders as illogical." 3) Kouvelakis' international appeal launched from London June 23 - Appeal from Stathis Kouvelakis: "There is still time to avoid a fresh Greek tragedy" by Miri Davidson for Verso blog, June 24 <http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2056-appeal-from-stathis-kouvelakis-there-is-still-time-to-avoid-a-fresh-greek-tragedy> An appeal to all friends of the Greek people and to everyone who has stood by it for all these years by Stathis Kouvelakis Dear friends and comrades, Without doubt you will already have understood that something very serious indeed is now coming to pass. After the test of strength waged across the last several months, pitting the Troika of lenders against the Greek government – whose election represented an immense hope for all the forces fighting against austerity and neoliberalism in Europe – the Greek side is now in the process of giving in. The last set of proposals sent by Athens represented its acceptance of the fundamentals of the lenders’ demands. This is nothing less than a new plan for austerity, a new €8bn purge, the bulk of which will fall on the shoulders of employees and pensioners. Such a package of measures, which is on every point comparable to the potion that has been administered to the country without relent across the last five years, can only lead to further recession, unemployment and poverty. And this in a country that has already lost a quarter of its GDP in five years, where unemployment has struck more than one in four of the active population and where a third of people are living below the poverty line. Dear friends and comrades, We will have to draw up a political balance sheet of the trajectory that has taken this government – which bore a popular hope that extended well beyond this small country’s borders – to the point at which we now find ourselves. But that is not the task of the moment. At this present hour, we must mobilise and exert pressure: 1) On the Greek government, as long as the agreement remains yet to be signed, such that does not commit an irreparable mistake. The Syriza government’s capitulation would have incalculable consequences for the progressive forces in Europe and worldwide – and we must make this message felt. 2) On the Syriza parliamentary group, such that its MPs do not vote through an agreement that on every point contradicts the mandate that the Greek people gave them less than six months ago. Dear friends and comrades, I want to tell you that thousands of Syriza militants are fighting, and will continue to fight, in very difficult conditions, so that the people’s hope and the struggles of all these years are not squandered. Understand: significant social forces will not allow themselves to be misled by the onrush of propaganda that seeks to hide the reality and prepare the terrain for surrender and dishonour. All these forces are in vital need of international support. There is still time to avoid a fresh Greek tragedy, which can only be a tragedy for all the forces fighting and resisting in Europe and across the world. Stick by our side! Let’s keep up the struggle! NO PASARAN! Stathis Kouvelakis, London, 23 June 2015 4) Tsipras summoned to Brussels for emergency talks over Greek bailout deal Greek prime minister travels to meet creditors to thrash out differences over his proposed cuts to try to avoid eurozone’s first default Ian Traynor and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Helena Smith in Athens The Guardian, June 23 <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/24/alexis-tsipras-summoned-brussels-emergency-talks-greece-bailout-deal> . . . As doubts deepened among the creditors, the Greek government came under intense domestic political pressure last night over its concessions. Tsipras faced criticism from within his coalition government over compromise proposals that would raise €8bn by increasing pension contributions, phasing out early retirement, hiking corporation tax and raising some rates of VAT. “Many MPs, be they on the left or not, are very sceptical about accepting such a programme,” said Costas Lapavitsas, an economics professor at the University of London who is now an MP for Tsipras’s leftwing Syriza party. “How will they explain it to their voters? How will they return to their electoral constituencies and explain this agreement to them?” The government’s junior coalition partner, the small, rightwing Independent Greeks party, added to the complications for Tsipras by warning it would only support an agreement that included some form of debt write-off. Greece’s creditors are not expected to make such a commitment this week. Panos Kammenos, Anel’s leader, added that his party would oppose a VAT increase for Greek islands “even if the government falls”. By Tuesday night it was unclear whether the Greek leader would be able to contain the dissent or even pass an agreement through parliament, regardless of whether a deal is reached in Brussels. Any deal would have to be endorsed by a working majority in parliament, with a close Tsipras ally also suggesting that fresh elections or a referendum may be needed if an agreement is not voted through. Alekos Flambouraris, a senior government minister, said: “For the government to forge ahead in difficult conditions after the agreement and to restart the economy and kick-start the country’s productive reconstruction, it has to have a unanimous parliamentary group which will put the programme into effect.” Earlier on Tuesday, the European Central Bank agreed to inject nearly €1bn into the Greek banking system, the third consecutive working day that Greece has received emergency help from the ECB’s emergency liquidity assistance programme in order to stave off bankruptcy as depositors take billions of euros out of accounts. The Irish finance minister, Michael Noonan, whose country has successfully completed its bailout programme and returned to growth, warned that emergency funding for Greece’s banks could be cut off unless a deal is reached soon. The European commission is also dangling the prospect of €35bn in financial aid for Greece if a deal is made. “I want ordinary Greeks to know we are offering €35bn to help the economy,” said Juncker. . . . _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
