A political upheaval has started in Athens after the creditors’ demand from the Greek opposition to back the economic measures after 2019 elections.
The first such statement was made by the French Finance Minister Michel Sapin. According to him, the IMF wants the country’s main opposition party, New Democracy, to practically sign the new measures.
He also said that the IMF’s persistence on tough reforms to the labor market was an “obsession.”
The IMF, however, denied that it required commitments from the Greek opposition.
But right as the whole issue seemed to die out, the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble commented on the issue as well, saying the political opposition must provide some kind of reassurance that especially the measures of 2019 and beyond “will have substance, irrespective of the elections and their outcome.”
New Democracy, commented that no such issue was discussed in its leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis recent visits to Brussels and Berlin and repeated that it will not back further austerity. The opposition party also asked the government to “explain why it is seeking support from abroad for the approval of its measures.”
It is not clear if these reassurances will be asked from the other political parties as well and will they answer.
