THE Italian state TV and radio reported on Friday that according to the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek government was prepared to drop its anti-austerity election promises to appease its creditors at the European Union and the IMF.
At an economists’ conference in northern Italy, Varoufakis said that in order to ‘build trust with our partners’, that is the EU and the IMF, ‘we could suspend or delay the implementation of our election promises’.
Last Saturday, the Wall Street Journal demanded that the Greek government do precisely this.
Varoufakis also stated that Greece would not ask for financial aid from Russia or China and that he was confident of reaching a deal by April 20 with the EC-IMF-ECB troika ‘partners’.
By that time it is envisaged that the troika, currently in Athens, would have prepared a financial report on Greece.
But the financial and political squeeze by Greece’s ‘partners’ has pushed the country to the verge of declaring bankruptcy and unable to pay wages and pensions.
The Bank of Greece say that there is cash to the end of March. Varoufakis once again has asked for access to the European Central Bank’s ‘quantitative easing’, in force since March 9, but this has been denied.
The ECB bought only 500m euros worth of Greek State Bonds last week, ‘a philanthropist’s gesture’.
What is demanded by Greece’s creditors is more savage austerity in exchange for cash. The problem is that Greek workers, poor farmers, youth and impoverished professionals voted at the last general election, 25 January, against austerity and for the kicking out of the hated troika.
The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), has been forced to visit Paris and Brussels last week to get some cash.
He met the EC President Jean-Claude Juncker last Friday and put to him the extremely critical situation in Greece. Juncker promised his support if Tsipras does as he is told.
In Athens, Greek government officials stated that they are confident of an ‘honourable compromise’ with the EC, IMF and ECB lenders.
In line with this utterly submissive stand, the Greek trade union leaders are refusing to mobilise workers against the new austerity accords that the so-called ‘left’ government of Tsipras will sign in April.
The Greek Communist Party (KKE) is also refusing to mobilise workers and instead is busy putting amendments to the governments’ Bills. The anti-capitalist ANTARSYA forces – the self-declared ‘left opposition’ to the government – are vocal against SYRIZA’s betrayals but they too refuse to organise even a protest.
The Trotskyists of the Revolutionary Marxist League (RML) have issued a statement for the overthrow of the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government that has betrayed every single one of its election promises and has accepted the return of the troika to Athens.
The RML campaigns for workers and youth to set up in every area Popular Assemblies (Councils of Action) and a United Front of trade unions to avert the catastrophe of another austerity accord.
