[D66] Greek parliament endorses EU-dictated austerity programme

[J.N.]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/07/16/gree-j16.html

Greek parliament endorses EU-dictated austerity programme
By Chris Marsden
16 July 2015

Greek Prime Minister and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras secured the
backing of parliament early Thursday for the savage programme of
austerity he agreed with eurozone officials last weekend.

Obtaining passage of the programme was never in doubt. The legislation
was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 229 to 64. There were six
abstentions. Three openly pro-austerity parties—New Democracy, PASOK and
To Potami—supported the Syriza government’s bill. The “no” vote included
MPs from the Communist Party (KKE) and the fascist Golden Dawn, along
with 32 Syriza MPs.

Outside parliament, there was growing anger over Tsipras’ treacherous
deal. The public-sector union Adedy held a four-hour strike Wednesday
morning. That evening there were several protests in Athens and
Thessaloniki. The Communist Party (KKE)-affiliated union federation PAME
held a fairly large protest as the parliamentary debate got underway.
Demonstrations were also staged by ANTARSYA and anarchists.

The government deployed riot police, who fired tear gas as Molotov
cocktails were thrown. Those attacked by the police included members of
Syriza’s youth organisation.

But within the parliament building, Tsipras secured the votes of his
right-wing coalition partners, the Independent Greeks, in addition to
the three pro-austerity parties. The Syriza-led coalition has condemned
Greek workers and youth to further suffering, to the point where
Greece’s persecutors in Berlin are talking of combining the austerity
measures they demanded with “humanitarian aid.”

All eyes were on Syriza’s Left Platform, to see whether expected
defections would be sufficiently broad to force Tsipras’ resignation and
fresh elections. Earlier in the day, there were reports that Tsipras had
phoned President Prokopis Pavlopoulos amid speculation that a rebellion
by 40 MPs would be taken as a vote of no-confidence.

Tsipas told his MPs that a vote against the deal would represent a
right-wing coup, intended to prove that an “anti-austerity” government
was only a “left intermission.” He was backed by Syriza spokesman Nikos
Filis, who warned, “If the Syriza government falls, you will be doing a
favour to [German Finance Minister Wolgang] Schäuble and the
conservative circles of Europe.”

These statements are staggering in their absurdity and hypocrisy. The
supposedly “anti-austerity” and “left” Syriza government, elected on a
pledge to end EU austerity, is imposing attacks on the jobs, pensions
and living standards of Greek workers that go far beyond any accepted by
previous governments. It has, moreover, agreed to a de facto
dictatorship of the “troika”—the European Union, the International
Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank—more total and
all-embracing than the regime they promised to end. And it has agreed to
turn over €50 billion in public assets to a trust controlled by Germany,
which will sell off the assets to private speculators and use much of
the proceeds to pay off Greece’s creditors.

Filis’ appeal for Syriza MPs to “vote against their own conscience” was
echoed by Panos Kammenos, leader of the Independent Greeks, who
declared, “We have to vote against our conscience and back the agreement.”

Prior to the parliamentary session, rumblings of dissent were evident.
House Speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou, who voted against the government last
Friday, was removed from the chair at Tsipras’ request. Deputy Finance
Minister Nadia Valavani resigned her cabinet post, saying it was
“impossible” for her to remain in a government set on imposing such
savage austerity measures. Finance Ministry Secretary General Manos
Manousakis also quit. A majority of Syriza’s Central Committee, 109 out
of 201, including 15 MPs, voted to reject the agreement.

Tsipras nevertheless secured the support of most of his party. Among
those who voted “no,” there was nothing to indicate anything other than
a belated attempt to save face by mounting a token protest. The
cowardice and lack of principle of the Left Platform, which supported
Tsipras to the bitter end, was exemplified by Energy Minister Panagiotis
Lafazanis, who said he would vote against the deal but would not seek to
bring down the government.

For his pains, he is likely to be removed as part of a cabinet reshuffle
to purge even the most fainthearted critics and stack the cabinet with
those ready to impose whatever austerity measures are demanded by the
EU. Four ministers who have spoken against the terms of the latest
bailout will almost certainly leave office. Others, including Labour
Minister Panos Skourletis, will be elevated in their place.

Even with a reshuffle, Tsipras’ position remains precarious. The
government could still fall, with fresh elections as early as the
autumn. New Democracy promised to support the government only long
enough to get the bailout measures passed into law. To Potami leader
Stavros Theodorakis, who controls 17 MPs, said that his party would not
join a coalition government with Syriza.

Passing the agreement resolves nothing as far as Greece’s descent into
financial hell is concerned. It just speeds up the process.

The International Monetary Fund’s own debt sustainability analysis
declared bluntly, “Greece’s public debt has become highly unsustainable
… The financing need through end-2018 is now estimated at euro 85
billion, and debt is expected to peak at close to 200 percent of GDP in
the next two years, provided that there is an early agreement on a
program. Greece’s debt can now only be made sustainable through debt
relief measures that go far beyond what Europe has been willing to
consider so far.” The IMF suggested that Greece would need a 30-year
moratorium in debt repayments.

Germany will not agree to the type of aid the IMF is proposing, and the
IMF is, for its part, demanding that the necessary funds be provided by
the EU.

Jack Lew, the US treasury secretary, flew to Europe for talks yesterday
with Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank. He is meeting with
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble today. But Germany has
repeatedly rebuffed appeals from Washington for a debt write-down.