THE leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) Alexis Tsipras stated on Tuesday ‘the expression of the public’s will has made the EC-IMF Accord of austerity measures null and void.’
He added that ‘The public has chosen as its first alternative a left-wing government that will cancel the bail-out agreements.’
Tsipras has sent a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.
This states that following the defeat of the two signatories of the EU-IMF bailout, the conservative New Democracy party and the social-democrats of PASOK in last Sunday’s general election, ‘the terms of the bail-out can no longer apply.’
Tsipras demanded that the New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras and PASOK’s Evangelos Venizelos should also write to the EU and IMF to tell them that their written commitment to abide by the terms of the bail-out could no longer stand because of the election result.
Outraged New Democracy and PASOK leaders accused the pro-Eurozone Tsipras as heading away from the Euro.
SYRIZA have set out five conditions for discussion with all parties interested in forming a coalition government headed by Tsipras. These are:
1. The recognition of the need to annul the conditions of the EC-IMF austerity measures Accord which further cut wages and pensions.
2. The annulment of laws which abolish basic labour rights, such as the law which states that from 15 May collective agreements are not valid.
3. There should be changes introduced to the political system to deepen democracy, such as the change in the electoral law by establishing a system of proportional representation in the general election as well as the annulment of the law concerning the responsibilities of ministers.
4. The banking system must come under the state’s control and the Black Rock report on the Greek economy must be made public.
5. An international committee should be established to check if Greece’s national debt is odious and a moratorium should be imposed on the debt.
The call for ‘state control of the banks’ sent the Athens stock exchange diving which ended up by losing 3.5 per cent; in the last two days it has lost over 10 per cent. But an explanatory statement by a SYRIZA leader made clear that the party has no intention of nationalising the banks.
SYRIZA’s call for an investigation into Greece’s debt has infuriated both the conservative and the social-democrats leaders.
But both the leader of the conservatives Antonis Samaras and of the social-democrats Vagelis Venizelos stated publicly that they would support a ‘national government’ headed by Tsipras.
Tsipras was to meet with both leaders yesterday afternoon. On Tuesday Tsipras got the backing of the Democratic Left party for a ‘Left’ government but the KKE (Greek Communist Party) have refused even to meet him.
Tsipras also met with small parties, trades unions and professional associations. If Tsipras fails to get sufficient backing for his plans, then there will be the turn of PASOK leader Venizelos to form a government.
If he fails too, most likely, then a new general election will be declared for June.
