Lafazanis: Natl currency the only way

Tsipras ‘terrorized’ the Greek people

Ex-minister Panayiotis Lafazanis, the leader of the newly formed far-left Popular Unity party, which emerged from a split with SYRIZA, used harsh language on Monday against his former comrade and recently resigned PM Alexis Tsipras.

Speaking to the local radio station Parapolitika 90.1, he accused Tsipras of making a ‘political U-turn’ when SYRIZA voted for the third memorandum in parliament.

Moreover, he continued by repeating his view that Greece could exit the current economic crisis only if it re-adopted a national currency.

Lafazanis did not hold back against Tsipras, stressing that the former Greek PM’s threat of a ‘civil war’, if the country left the Eurozone, was tantamount to ‘terror mongering’. The far-left political cadre and die-hard anti-capitalist said Greece could seek alliances outside the eurozone, adding that there were many countries out of the euro area that prospered and did not collapse. He wasn’t asked which countries he was referring to.

“We want to expand Greece’s international relations and not limit them,” he underlined, adding that politicians should not ‘terrorize’ citizens with rhetoric to the effect that ‘there was no life outside the Euro’.

The leader of the now coalescing anti-bailout movement, in its left-wing expression, also wondered why Greece should stay in what he called the “European experiment”, which, according to him, is going down a path of destruction.

“We did not say our road would be an easy one,” he admitted, adding that he never promised a magic wand that would solve all problems. Lafazanis set the goal of his new heavily Marxist-flavored party as third place in the Sept. 20 snap elections.