Shades of drachma? Minister cites 'plan' if liquidity not restored after 'no'

Far-left SYRIZA minister Panagiotis Lafazanis wants ‘new agreement absolutely compatible with our program’, otherwise ‘we’ll promote … alternative plan’

The radical leftist government has a …“plan” if the Emergency Liquidity Assistance isn’t reactivated after a “no”, a top SYRIZA minister and the leader of the unofficial “internal opposition” said this week.

The exact nature of the plan wasn’t revealed by Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who spoke to a Russian news site, Rossiya 24.

Lafazanis, whose views express the virulently anti-capitalist and “west-skeptic” Left Platform within SYRIZA, warned that “if the dominant circles of Europe do not return the ELA after the referendum and the loud ‘no’ of the Greek people, then the government has a plan to deal with this situation.”

Asked by the reporter for more details, Lafazanis, whose portfolio also includes the five-year-plan sounding “productive reconstruction” moniker, declined to expand.

“This isn’t the time to unveil the plan we have,” he said, before returning to the leftist government’s theme of “blackmail” by the country’s lenders and their decision, as he said, to close banks in order to influence Sunday’s referendum.

Greek banks were closed for a week and capital controls instituted after a decision by the Greek government, via a ministerial decree, on Sunday afternoon.

“We believe that now is the moment where we must emphasize the need, with a strong ‘no’, to formulate the situation in the EU in order to have a new agreement that is absolutely compatible with our program. If this is not accomplished, of course, the Greek government will promote an alternative prospect for the country,” are his exact words.