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Greek PM Tsipras Sends Ultimatum to SYRIZA MPs: Accept the Deal or I Won’t be PM Tomorrow by Anastassios Adamopoulos The Greek Reporter, July 15 <http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/15/greek-pm-tsipras-sends-ultimatum-to-syriza-mps-accept-the-deal-or-i-wont-be-pm-tomorrow> In anticipation of the decisive vote at the Greek Parliament, the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group convened on Wednesday. The country’s governing party is facing one of its most crucial moments since its inception in 2004 with a significant number of lawmakers set to vote against the bailout deal Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to with international creditors in Brussels on Monday. “I am the Prime Minister because I have a Parliamentary Group that I depend on,” Tsipras told SYRIZA lawmakers at the meeting. “If I do not have support from the Parliamentary Group, it is difficult for me to be Prime Minister the following day.” . . . Panagiotis Lafazanis, leader of the so-called Left Platform, a sub-group within SYRIZA that is likely to vote down [against] the bailout deal in Parliament on Wednesday, said that the presented dilemma between a deal or a catastrophe is not true. “There has been and always will be an alternative solution. It is a matter of political choice and political decision. It is not a technical issue,” he told reporters after the meeting and added “It is unacceptable for the government to succumb to the creditors’ deplorable choices, in the name of blackmail.” Despite his vehement opposition to the deal, Lafazanis has not resigned from his post as Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister. Following the meeting, he said that SYRIZA’s unity and support toward the government are guaranteed. Varoufakis Attacks Greece’s New Bailout Agreement by Philip Chrysopoulos The Greek Reporter, July 15 <http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/15/varoufakis-attacks-greeces-new-bailout-agreement> Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said in parliament that the new bailout agreement proposed to Greece is doomed to fail, calling it ” Versailles Treaty,” and stated he will vote against it. Varoufakis accused German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of working hard to bring back harsh memoranda because the Greek people voted “no” in the referendum. “The troika, in cooperation with Schaeuble, was waiting to drag Greece back into the catastrophic clarity of the memoranda,” Varoufakis said. . . . Varoufakis also expressed the opinion that the agreement will not materialize because the International Monetary Fund “refuses to participate.” Also, because the European Stability Mechanism will refuse to proceed without the involvement of the IMF. “Unfortunately, once again, we are dragged to debt restructuring after the failure of the program… Everything will depend on the restructuring of the debt,” he said. ['rioters' appear after reported 13,000 unionists march] Rallies Held in Athens Ahead of Bailout Vote – Rioters Clash With Police Outside Greek Parliament by Anastassios Adamopoulos The Greek Reporter, July 15 <http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/15/rallies-held-in-athens-ahead-of-bailout-vote-rioters-clash-with-police-outside-greek-parliament> Clashes broke out between police and rioters around the Greek Parliament in downtown Athens on Wednesday. Greek lawmakers are now convening in parliament to vote on the provisional bailout deal that would bring more austerity measures and reforms in exchange for an estimated 86 billion euros. 13,000 people reportedly participated in Wednesday’s rallies in protest of the bailout deal. Clashes broke out after unionists marched and arrived outside Greece’s parliament. Police then clashed with people who were reportedly not part of the rallies. Riot police used tear gas against 100-150 people who threw small objects as well as molotov cocktails toward them. [EU preparing immediate financial aid if proposal passes in Greek parliament] Syriza splinters ahead of crucial vote on Greece bailout deal by Christian Oliver and Henry Foy in Athens and Peter Spiegel in Brussels Financial Times, July 15 <http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/db4d2f04-2b05-11e5-8613-e7aedbb7bdb7.html> . . . If the Greek parliament approves the measures on Wednesday night, EU authorities are close to a deal that would immediately disburse €7bn to Athens so it would not default on a bond due to the European Central Bank on Monday. If Greece were to default on the ECB, Frankfurt would probably be forced to pull emergency loans to Greek banks, which are the only support keeping the financial sector alive. Under a compromise being worked out in Brussels, a long-dormant EU-wide rescue fund, known as the European Financial Stability Mechanism, would loan Athens €7bn for three months, which officials believe will be enough time for the full €86bn bailout to be finalised. Use of the EFSM, which Britain’s David Cameron thought he had killed in a 2010 summit agreement, has caused outrage in London. But Downing Street, faced with being outvoted in Brussels, has agreed to let the fund be used as long as non-euro countries are provided a guarantee against their portion of the loan. The guarantee, likely to come from a €3.6bn pool of profits on Greek bonds held by the ECB, was the last thing being hammered out in the deal. _________________________________________________________ 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
