Greek elections

Greek leftists vow to reject bailout terms

The head of Greece's left-wing Syriza party says his cabinet will reject all austerity measures imposed under an EU and IMF loan deal if he manages to form a new government.

ABC,

9 May, 2012

Alexis Tsipras has been given three days to form a coalition after general elections on Sunday failed to produce a clear winner.

"The public verdict has clearly nullified the loan agreement and (pledges) sent to Europe and the IMF," Mr Tsipras said in a televised address.

The country's youngest political leader at 37, Mr Tsipras and his Syriza bloc won second place in the election.

An attempt by the first-ranked conservative New Democracy party to form a coalition has already failed.

I can't stand this situation any longer. I'm on the limit of poverty. I don't have the money to pay for my bills. I don't have the money to pay for the school of my children.

I don't have a lot of hope for the future. But I do hope, whoever leads us, we will have less austerity.

Greek voters

Mr Tsipras has described measures associated with Greece's bailout deal as "barbaric", but it is unlikely he will be able to deliver a majority.

The third in line for the mandate, Pasok, is also likely to fail, which means another snap election for the country next month.

Nonetheless, Mr Tsipras called on the leaders of Pasok and New Democracy to renege on their pledges to international creditors, vowing to form an anti-austerity coalition with other leftist parties and abolish a spate of labour laws demanded by Greece's creditors to improve competitiveness.

"Citizens have crushingly voted against the barbaric policy of loan agreements," he said.

"They put an end to plans for 77 new austerity measures in June, plans to lay off 150,000 civil servants, and to additional measures worth 11.5 billion euros ($15 billion).

"This was a mature, conscious political choice."

New election

Even assuming that Syriza and other anti-bailout parties could overcome their gaping differences, they can only muster 151 votes, enough for just a razor-thin majority in parliament.

The Communist party, which has 26 seats, refused to cooperate on Tuesday.

Some constitutional experts have argued that a government could theoretically be backed by just 120 lawmakers depending on the number of deputies present on the day of the confidence vote in parliament.

Mr Tsipras, who will probably not seek the prime minister's post for himself, said banks should be placed under "national control" and a "moratorium" applied on loan repayments.

Syriza spokesman Panos Skourletis said the party would seek an understanding with Greece's EU peers on making the country's huge debt of over 350 billion euros ($450 billion) sustainable.

A new government has to be formed by May 17 or new elections will be called.

The only option to forestall new elections, noted pro-socialist newspaper Ethnos daily, is for Syriza and the smaller Democratic Left party to settle on a joint candidate for prime minister which the Pasok party could support.

The voters' verdict in Greece has alarmed markets, with Greek stocks falling to a two-decade low.

The debt-stricken economy stands to have its next slice of bailout funding withheld, which means within weeks Greece could again be staring bankruptcy in the face.

From the English-language Greek press

New elections looming for Greece

SYRIZA leader Tsipras fails to make headway as Samaras accuses him of putting euro membership at risk

Ekathimerini,

26 April, 2012

The leader of Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) Alexis Tsipras is due to meet the heads of PASOK and New Democracy on Wednesday but his slim chances of forming a unity government seem to have disappeared and Greece is likely to hold new elections next month.

Tsipras spent Tuesday, the first of three days he is permitted to try to form a government, in talks with leftist parties but had mixed success in convincing them to support his effort to form an administration that would challenge the terms of Greece’s bailout. However, the SYRIZA leader’s decision to set out certain terms for any cooperation, including the rejection of the loan deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, prompted a strong reaction from PASOK and New Democracy, which made it clear that there is hardly any ground for agreement.

SYRIZA won an unprecedented 16.78 percent of the vote on Sunday but would still need the support of either ND or PASOK to form a majority government. It has the option of forming an administration with just 120 MPs rather than 151 but the government would need to pass a vote of confidence.

Tsipras set out six terms for any agreement with other parties: immediate cancellation of the terms of the EU-IMF memorandum, the cancellation of the law that ends collective contracts, changes to the electoral system so proportional representation can be introduced, public review of Greek banks and the formation of a debt inspection committee that will investigate whether any of Greece’s debt can be termed “odious.”

“The expression of the public’s will has made the memorandum null and void and has chosen as its first alternative a left-wing government that will cancel the loan agreements,” Tsipras said after meeting President Karolos Papoulias to receive the mandate for forming a unity government.

Kathimerini understands that Tsipras is to send a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi to argue that the result of the elections, which saw the two signatories of the EU-IMF bailout, PASOK and New Democracy, receive just 32 percent of the vote, means that the terms of the bailout can no longer apply.

Tsipras also asked ND leader Antonis Samaras and PASOK’s Evangelos Venizelos to write to the EU and IMF to inform Greece’s lenders that their written commitment to abide by the terms of the bailout could no longer stand because of the election result. This prompted Samaras to accuse Tsipras of risking Greece’s membership of the eurozone.

“Mr Tsipras, with his statements Wednesday, is doing everything possible not to form a government,” Samaras said, adding that the leftist was asking him to “put my signature to the destruction of Greece.”

The conservative leader said his party would be prepared to back a minority government “as long as it secures the country’s position in the eurozone and its national interest.” But, he said, the leftist leader’s statement left no doubt “that he has no intention of safeguarding Greece’s European identity and future” and revealed “unbelievable arrogance.”

Venizelos issued a statement saying that his position on keeping Greece in the euro was non-negotiable. Tsipras met Tuesday with Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis, who said he would support SYRIZA if it could form a majority government. The Ecologist Greens, however, rejected the leftists’ overtures, arguing that SYRIZA did not have a clear plan for exiting the crisis.

It is expected Tsipras will be unable to reach any agreement by Thursday, leading to PASOK taking over the mandate to form a government. After that, Papoulias will call in the party leaders to try to broker a deal. If that fails, a caretaker government will be appointed and new elections called.