Greek minister of state and government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said that the timely completion of the second evaluation and positive news on the debt will put an end to the “left parenthesis” scenario painted by Syriza’s critics.

“We will pass the difficult phase of the second evaluation without compromising our principles, we will take concrete measures for Greek debt adjustment and we will continue our struggle to get Greece back on track,” stressed Dimitris Tzanakopoulos in an interview in the Sunday edition of the Greek daily Avgi.

The minister and government spokesman noted the “extremely significant results” brought about by US president Obama’s visit “in support of securing debt adjustment.” He dismissed scenarios of early elections and sharply criticized the conservative opposition party New Democracy and its leader, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for what he described as ongoing attempts to undermine the government’s efforts at debt adjustment by blaming Syriza for the harsh austerity measures that such an eventuality would necessitate.

Dimitris Tzanakopoulos stressed that the timely completion of the second evaluation and positive news on the debt would deflate Mr. Mitsotakis’s characterization of Syriza as a “left-wing parenthesis,” or a political party with a short life span.

He added that “in the next Eurogroup, what has been agreed upon should be adhered to and short-term measures for the debt should be taken, measures that have even been accepted by Mr. Schäuble,” noting that “in addition, the aim is to refine long- and medium-term measures so that the necessary decisions can be taken soon, including a lowering of surplus target levels from 2019 onwards.”

“There is no scenario of early elections,” Mr. Tzanakopoulos insisted, saying: “Today we are in the middle of the road and are resolved to make it across to the other side. If we allow ourselves to be plagued with doubts about how to do so, the chances are that we will get run over.”  He continued: “The Greek people, who trusted us during an extremely difficult period, can forgive mistakes, but would never forgive us for abandoning our responsibilities.”

Source: ANA