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Troika’s ultimatum to Greece - A coup in the making by Jorge Martin In Defense of Marxism (IMT), June 25 <http://www.marxist.com/troika-ultimatum-to-greece-coup-in-the-making.htm> *The latest provocative demands and ultimatums placed by the troika on the Greek government have one clear aim: to destroy it. They cannot be interpreted in any other way and all the pieces of the puzzle are now falling together.* . . . The troika is fully aware that the 22nd June proposals from Greece were already the maximum that Tsipras could offer without committing political suicide. It was not even clear whether he would be able to get them passed through parliament without losing his parliamentary majority and having to rely on opposition MPs voting for them. For the troika to demand even more after that can only mean that their aim is to break Syriza and destroy the current government. For weeks there have been talks of the need for a government of “national unity” (read: a government which can impose further austerity onto the backs of working people). On the very day that the troika was making impossible demands on Greece, the leader of the centre right pro-European party To Potami (The River) went to Brussels and met with European Commissioner Moscovici. It is highly unusual for a leader of a non-government party to meet with EU officials. The party leader Theodorakis declared that they would support any European proposal that the government would put to the vote and opposed the calling of early elections. The leader of New Democracy, Samaras, was more specific, as he called for the formation of a transitional government of national unity excluding Tsipras (and himself), if the current government majority was unable to get a deal with the troika passed in Parliament. What these statements mean is very clear: the Greek and European ruling classes want to split Syriza, removing the obstacle of its left wing in the parliamentary group, in order to create a more pliable government which can get this new austerity Memorandum passed. Such a government could be created with the right wing of Syriza's parliamentary group and the pro-European bourgeois opposition parties. Of course this needs to be done, To Potami and New Democracy agree, without new elections, as their result cannot be guaranteed. The president of the Republic, the right wing Pavlopoulos, elected at the proposal of Syriza, will probably play a key role in any parliamentary manouvering. This manoeuvre has a name. It is called a coup. Not a military coup, but a parliamentary one. They want to destroy a government which was elected on a mandate of ending austerity and the Memoranda, and replaced it by an unelected one which carries out precisely the opposite policy. Syriza must be forced into a humiliating defeat “pour encourager les autres”, to send a clear message to working people in Greece and other countries (particularly in Spain) that anti-austerity governments are bound to fail. That there is no alternative. Of course, here Tsipras is the victim of his own policies. For five months, the troika has extracted concession after concession from the Greek government without getting anything in exchange. This was done, we are told, in the hope of getting substantial debt reduction and better repayment terms, which would allow the Greek economy to start to recover. Even at this late date, the troika has not offered anything of the sort. Germany is extremely reluctant to make any concessions regarding debt relief as it would bear the brunt of those and it would have to make German workers pay for them. The arrogance of the troika is even more scandalous if one looks at its track record. The austerity policies imposed on Greece were supposed to reduce debt to a manageable level and allow the Greek economy to start to recover. The opposite has been the case. As was to be predicted, these extreme measures have sent Greece back into recession and made the debt spiral even further out of control. Time to change course It is time to put an end to this. The only way forward is to make a decisive stance and reject the troika’s demands. Even at this late hour, if Tsipras was to turn to the Greek people and say: “We made concessions, we broke our own program in order to get a deal. But the troika wants the workers to pay for the whole package and let the capitalists off. We cannot accept this. We need to repudiate the debt and take control of our own economy. If we do that we can appeal to the international solidarity of European workers”. He would get massive support. His track record for the last five months make this an unlikely prospect. What about the Left Platform within Syriza? The Greek media is full of speculation about the number of MPs who would be prepared to vote against this humiliating compromise. CC member Stathis Kouvelakis has correctly described it as an austerity package and issued an appeal to mobilise against. However, the main leaders of the Left Platform remain silent. The Greek media reports that the main figure of the Left Platform who is also a government minister (and therefore co-responsible for the 22nd June proposal), has said he wants to wait and see the final deal before he comments. . . . According to a poll published by Left.gr, 69% of the people blame the troika for the lack of a deal, while only 22% blame the government. Interestingly, 63% of the people say they do not fear Grexit, which is a big change from the previous situation. The Greek workers are fully aware that being expelled from the euro on a capitalist basis would be an economic disaster, but they can no longer withstand a continuation of the present state of affairs. While only 12% of the people say that the Greek economy would be better under a new austerity package, 17% think it would be better with Grexit. The majority, 71% think none of them is an option. . . . The only way to reverse the current impasse is through mass mobilisation in the streets. The full rage of the Greek population must be expressed. The masses must regain the initiative and break through the schemes and complots at the top. The responsibility of the Left Platform is enormous. They now command the support of about 45% of Syriza’s CC. If they were to come out publicly with a bold position rejecting the deal, they would probably tip the internal balance, but they would certainly command the support of a large majority of the population. The stakes are high. A defeat in Greece would be a defeat throughout Europe. The beginning of a serious fightback in Greece would encourage workers across the continent who are already desperately looking for an alternative to austerity, where working people are asked to pay for the crisis of capitalism. _________________________________________________________ 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
