From
By Vasiliki Siouti
Syriza’s leadership is certain that
the country’s creditors will back down in negotiations with a new leftist
government. There are officials, however, that believe there will be an intense
reaction if Syriza attempts to get the country out of the jail of austerity and
are urging the party to prepare for a ‘battle’
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European officials are discussing an
extension of the ‘Greek programme’- the memorandum- but, in reality, its
extension or its replacement with a similar programme, was never out of the
plans of the country’s creditors and the German government, in particular.
Wolfgang Schauble has referred to ‘its necessity’ on many occasions.
Europe’s conservative leadership has no confidence in the country’s political personnel (not even in their ideological counterparts) and this is another reason why they believe Greece should remain under constant supervision on various pretexts
The discussion among European officials during the present period concerns the extension of the memorandum to six months - it has already received a two-month extension and expires at the end of February, when they plan to replace it with the so-called ‘precautionary credit line’.
But at a meeting of leading Syriza officials with Alexis Tsipras and at the party’s finance committee in early January, both Yiannis Dragasakis and Giorgos Stathakis talked about an extension.
The two economists, who are responsible for the formulation of the government’s programme on the economy, were, until the summer, proposing a six-month extension and also expressed their opposition to unilateral actions.
However, the other party officials at the meeting and Alexis Tsipras did not agree with them and supported the positions outlined in Syriza’s programme.
It is well known that a large number of Syriza officials, and especially those affiliated to the party’s more radical wing, the Left Platform and the ‘53’ group, view both men, who are considered moderate voices in the party, with reservation.
On the contrary, Dragasakis and Stathakis enjoy the respect of people in the business world with which they talk and who view them as the ‘voice of reason’, which they hope will prevail in Syriza when it governs.
Both men are also holding meetings with representatives of the country’s lenders who have expressed their belief to foreign media that Syriza will be forced to adapt.
In talks with party officials that have protested against the positions of the two men, which, they say, have veered away from the positions agreed at the party congress, Syriza’s leadership has implied that it has sought to reassure them over their concerns, especially over Giorgos Stathakis, who has frequently diverged from the party congress position on the debt haircut and other issues.
Representatives of the business world, the banking system and the creditors that talk with Syriza’s pragmatists, are left with the impression that the party’s radical wing will not have a protagonist’s role in governance. And this reassures them.
But when the time for actions come, it will be difficult to keep both sides (markets and the radical left) satisfied.
Until now, Syriza’s leadership has relied on the assumption that the Europeans will back down once negotiations begin. This optimistic perspective is not shared by everyone in the party, especially the Left Platform headed by Panayiotis Lafazanis.
On the contrary, they believe the German government will not give in and conflict will arise, which, they believe, that, under certain conditions, they can win.
But they are perfectly aware that it won’t be a walk in the park when they will need to go to Brussels and Berlin.
Stathis Kouvelakis, the central committee member and professor of political philosophy in London, has wondered how the party is preparing to react if it cannot persuade the Europeans - after Yiannis Dragasakis admitted in a TV debate .(video link in Greek) that it may not succeed in doing so.
Kouvelakis also asked what Dragaskais, as the man responsible for the party’s economic programme, has done to prepare.
It’s a fact that Syriza has refused to make any preparations in the case the Europeans don’t back down. And they consider the warning by Europeans that Greece will receive no financial support if it doesn’t implement the memorandum as a bluff.
On the other hand, many European officials also consider Syriza’s positions on the haircut, on unilateral actions etc as a bluff which is being used as a ‘threat’ to reach a compromise.
We will know who is bluffing sooner rather than later. Creditors are also pressuring Syriza, after it forms a government, to go for an extension of the memorandum and have made it clear that they are not willing to discuss a haircut but only an extension.
Many party officials have, for some time, talked about the difficulties ahead and the reaction of Greece’s creditors, the markets and Berlin, if Syriza wins the elections and demands an end to austerity and an the erasing of the debt.
European Parliament member of Syriza Giorgos Katroungalos foresees - and he’s not the only one - an intense reaction by the Europeans and that a tough battle will need to be waged, especially in the initial months, in order for the new government to achieve the implementation of its programme.
This, he says, will also need the people’s active participation.
Sofia Sakorafa also believes that an impasse in the negotiations cannot be ruled out. But this, she says, will pose a greater danger to the eurozone and therefore Syriza should not back down, but insist on the implementation of its programme with the support of the Greek people.
Wolfgang Schauble has referred to ‘its necessity’ on many occasions.
Europe’s conservative leadership has no confidence in the country’s political personnel (not even in their ideological counterparts) and this is another reason why they believe Greece should remain under constant supervision on various pretexts
The discussion among European officials during the present period concerns the extension of the memorandum to six months - it has already received a two-month extension and expires at the end of February, when they plan to replace it with the so-called ‘precautionary credit line’.
But at a meeting of leading Syriza officials with Alexis Tsipras and at the party’s finance committee in early January, both Yiannis Dragasakis and Giorgos Stathakis talked about an extension.
The two economists, who are responsible for the formulation of the government’s programme on the economy, were, until the summer, proposing a six-month extension and also expressed their opposition to unilateral actions.
However, the other party officials at the meeting and Alexis Tsipras did not agree with them and supported the positions outlined in Syriza’s programme.
It is well known that a large number of Syriza officials, and especially those affiliated to the party’s more radical wing, the Left Platform and the ‘53’ group, view both men, who are considered moderate voices in the party, with reservation.
On the contrary, Dragasakis and Stathakis enjoy the respect of people in the business world with which they talk and who view them as the ‘voice of reason’, which they hope will prevail in Syriza when it governs.
Both men are also holding meetings with representatives of the country’s lenders who have expressed their belief to foreign media that Syriza will be forced to adapt.
In talks with party officials that have protested against the positions of the two men, which, they say, have veered away from the positions agreed at the party congress, Syriza’s leadership has implied that it has sought to reassure them over their concerns, especially over Giorgos Stathakis, who has frequently diverged from the party congress position on the debt haircut and other issues.
Representatives of the business world, the banking system and the creditors that talk with Syriza’s pragmatists, are left with the impression that the party’s radical wing will not have a protagonist’s role in governance. And this reassures them.
But when the time for actions come, it will be difficult to keep both sides (markets and the radical left) satisfied.
Until now, Syriza’s leadership has relied on the assumption that the Europeans will back down once negotiations begin. This optimistic perspective is not shared by everyone in the party, especially the Left Platform headed by Panayiotis Lafazanis.
On the contrary, they believe the German government will not give in and conflict will arise, which, they believe, that, under certain conditions, they can win.
But they are perfectly aware that it won’t be a walk in the park when they will need to go to Brussels and Berlin.
Stathis Kouvelakis, the central committee member and professor of political philosophy in London, has wondered how the party is preparing to react if it cannot persuade the Europeans - after Yiannis Dragasakis admitted in a TV debate .(video link in Greek) that it may not succeed in doing so.
Kouvelakis also asked what Dragaskais, as the man responsible for the party’s economic programme, has done to prepare.
It’s a fact that Syriza has refused to make any preparations in the case the Europeans don’t back down. And they consider the warning by Europeans that Greece will receive no financial support if it doesn’t implement the memorandum as a bluff.
On the other hand, many European officials also consider Syriza’s positions on the haircut, on unilateral actions etc as a bluff which is being used as a ‘threat’ to reach a compromise.
We will know who is bluffing sooner rather than later. Creditors are also pressuring Syriza, after it forms a government, to go for an extension of the memorandum and have made it clear that they are not willing to discuss a haircut but only an extension.
Many party officials have, for some time, talked about the difficulties ahead and the reaction of Greece’s creditors, the markets and Berlin, if Syriza wins the elections and demands an end to austerity and an the erasing of the debt.
European Parliament member of Syriza Giorgos Katroungalos foresees - and he’s not the only one - an intense reaction by the Europeans and that a tough battle will need to be waged, especially in the initial months, in order for the new government to achieve the implementation of its programme.
This, he says, will also need the people’s active participation.
Sofia Sakorafa also believes that an impasse in the negotiations cannot be ruled out. But this, she says, will pose a greater danger to the eurozone and therefore Syriza should not back down, but insist on the implementation of its programme with the support of the Greek people.
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