Media speculation was rife on Friday on which Greek Parliament deputies would approve or disapprove of the SYRIZA government’s “11-th hour” proposal to creditors.
A package of measures, totaling more than 12 billion euros, was sent to creditors for approval on Thursday evening. An urgent process is now underway in Parliament to give Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras authorization to sign an agreement. He wants lawmakers in his party to agree on what appears to be a “political U-Turn”, despite the fact that more than 61% of voters opposed a previous austerity-laden proposal by creditors in the July 5 referendum.
There is dissent within the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) party, as the unofficial head of the anti-capitalist Left Platform, Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, has already expressed opposition to the latest Greek proposal with creditors.
The head of the junior coalition member, Independent Greeks (ANEL) leader and DM Panos Kammenos, also refused to sign the proposal, and has expressed concerns. Sources state that after speaking with new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Kammenos will lend his support to the government, especially following a discussion on the elimination of a VAT discount for several Greek islands.
Another lawmaker who is against further austerity measures is outspoken Parliament President Zoe Konstantopoulou. After a long meeting with Tsipras on Thursday, Konstantopoulou did not either support or oppose the measures and it will be interesting to see what her final decision will be.
Former finance minister Yannnis Varoufakis is also non-committal, and it remains to be seen if he will give his backing to the proposals. He argued that an explicit clause referring to debt relief should be included, as Jean-Claude Juncker “will sell us out, like he did with Venizelos”, he said, referring to a former FinMin, Evangelos Venizelos.
Marxism-friendly economist and UK-based academic Costas Lapavitsas, a fervent proponent of a return to the drachma in Greece’s Parliament and within SYRIZA, said Greece must prepare for a Grexit in the future, as he believes it is inevitable.
Ask me anything
Explore related questions