In many ways, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ inaugural speech in Parliament on Sunday declared open war on the bank-politician-mass media triptych in favor of a more equitable society. To achieve these lofty ideals, there are quite a few very important people who may be displeased.
Those who hate him – The war on oligarchies has been declared
* Businessmen will no longer be treated with kid gloves when dealing with the tax office as Tsipras has declared “all people are equal under the eyes of the law”. Fresh investigations into their involvement in corruption cases as well as a reopening of the Lagarde and Leichtenstein list. Workers rights will be fortified, meaning labor won’t be as cheap as it has become, nor will they be able to blackmail their workers into unpaid work or payment delays with threats of mass dismissal.
* Bankers from the Bank of Greece will no longer receive asylum and will be answerable to the law. The government will launch an examination of the PSI bond haircut that robbed social welfare to save banks.
* Media moguls will be forced to pay taxes and their dues to the public sector. Greater media monitoring and licensing. Public radio and TV (ERT) that was shut down by the previous government will be brought back.
* Other politicians will no longer get perks like company cars and there will be less use of the official jet as one of the three will be sold off. That may be ok for Tsipras who is used to walking and living in a working class area, but those who favor luxury and whose identity is intertwined with these special government perks are not pleased!
* Two out of every five parliamentary police guards will find themselves out of cushy Parliament security jobs and onto the streets protecting neighborhoods where Tsipras believes they ought to be. They’ll also be retrained.
* Foreigners, especially Germans, who will be called to pay war reparations following the unpaid forced loan taken out by the Nazis in World War II that essentially left the country in tatters. Greece also wants back antiquities and reparations for all that was stolen during those years.
Those who love him – Turning luxury MP cars into free electricity for the poor
* The poor and jobless who will no longer be cold and starving with free electricity. Sacked public service cleaners and school guards can now return to their jobs.
* Employee rights will be instigated with closer collaboration with the International Labor Organization (ILO). The minimum wage will be lifted to 751 euros by 2016. Taxes won’t be payed by those who are low-income earners (under 12,000 euros per year).
* Unemployment programs to tackle joblessness, viewed as a “ticking time bomb”, will be offered.
* Low income pensioners receiving under 700 euros per month will be given their 13th wage that was slashed by the previous government.
* 2nd generation immigrants who have been raised and who have studied in Greece knowing this country as their own will finally be treated as equal citizens and be nationalized after a lifetime of living in Greece.
* Students can rejoice with the abolition of the stressful “subject test bank” that has forced families to seek extra tuition so that they can sit for material that isn’t actually taught in class. There will be extra focus on quality education and research programs at university to draw back some of the brain drain that has left the country in droves.
