The Greek Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government’s agreement with international creditors fell well short of SYRIZA’s pre-election promises, with a list of reforms by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis apparently conflicting with his previous statements comparing loan traches to “drug doses”.

Even so, SYRIZA officials are now saying that negotiations have not ended but are merely being conducted on a new base. Furthermore, government officials stated that the first round has ended with the successful attempt of the government to stabilize itself in a particularly negative environment.

The government referred to a “death trap” set up by international creditors and the former coalition government — led by conservative New Democracy with socialist PASOK as the junior partner been avoided, giving the new government time to formulate its new political recipe. The goal of the government is to create a united internal front on party matters and overcome the harsh criticism of MPs and deputies. Associates close to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have expressed the view that society at large is thankful that the government worked to avoid a catastrophic rupture.

The government is showcasing four points of success in the first round of negotiations:

1. Former Greek finance minister Gikas Hardouvelis e-mail has been revoked so that new cuts in pensions and layoffs have been avoided.
2. Primary surplus targets have been decreased and will be reset according to the state of the economy, offering room for social policies such as those provided by the Thessaloniki agenda.
3. Time and opportunity is given to address the “basic problem of the Greek economy concerning the constant tax evasion by the wealthy.” The government’s goal has turned to this direction.
4. The content of new reforms will be based on Greek priorities and won’t exclusively be imposed by Greece’s international creditors. In this framework,, the government highlighted its presence for the first time and is now participating in the process of solving Greece’s problems as a separate entity. After an ‘infernal’ twenty days it can now no longer be denied that Greece has a say in its own problems and its agreement to the plans of lenders can no longer be anticipated.