“Alexis Tsipras must get a clear message on Sunday. “YES” should be overwhelming to send a clear message to the Prime Minister that he needs to worry about his country, not his political party,” stated Stavros Theodorakis, interviewed by journalist Sia Kosioni on SKAI News. He also said “Mr. Tsipras is lying when he says that banks will reopen soon. How will this be possible? Who will guarantee the banks' liquidity? How will we deal with a potential haircut on deposits? The country must not waste its time with referendums. How will a referendum give an answer to this problem? Does anyone really believe that things will get better?”
Following are the main parts of the interview:
- It is not surprising that Maduro and Le Pen have expressed their support to Mr. Tsipras. Golden Dawn was the first one to welcome Mr. Tsipras’ decision to carry out a referendum. We have different allies. I talked to Mr. Daniel Cohn-Bendit earlier. He told me “Hold on, hold on to Europe”.
- Does the government have any allies anymore? Is there any Prime Minister, or any Minister of Finance, out of the 18 Eurogroup members, who is still by our side? Let’s put an end to this “bad guys” story. Why are there not any “good guys” to support us? Are they all corrupt? This is a major defeat for the country; it is isolated from its friends and allies. We really worry, because everyone is against us.
- Who generated the fear that dominates Society today? Is it my fault or the government’s fault? A government that is unable to organize how pensioners get their 50 euros.
- Our partners made it clear; they want Greece in Europe. Consecutive extensions prove that our traditional allies are concerned about the settlement of this issue. Europe must also make concessions. Europeans are not blameless either. They bear their own responsibilities. We had this major issue of corruption, of money that was used to corrupt in Greece. Europe did not give an answer to this issue with the Memorandums all these years. Potami and I, personally, urge them to make concessions and not punish Greece.
- Europe has decided that Greece should be in a “growth orbit”. It is not true that Europe wants to cut down the Greeks’ salaries. Why would European countries, many of which have centre-left governments, want to hurt Greeks? These are SYRIZA’s fairytales. Europe wants a political leadership in the country that will be in favor of major changes and against the party state, which will not repeat yesterday’s mistakes. The majority of the political system in Greece was cheating ordinary Greeks. It only made sure that its own people would be taken care of, without promoting the necessary reforms that the country needs to move forward. The real challenge is not some minor settlement in salaries and pensions. The challenge is protecting the weaker members of Society.
- The texts that Mr. Tsipras brought over for the referendum are texts signed by him. He prepared these texts with Jean-Claude Juncker. Mr. Tsipras proposed measures of 8 billion euros, while Mr. Juncker proposed measures of 8,5 billion euros. The government must act bravely, so that the same people do not end up paying the price again.
- They blame me for expressing my support to Mr. Tsipras’ effort to conclude a deal. We thought that it was our patriotic duty to reassure Mr. Tsipras that he would have the support of our MP's. This is still the case. We would do the same with any Prime Minister.
- Prime Ministers blame the opposition, when they realize that their policies stagnate. Alexis Tsipras must get a clear message on Sunday. “YES” should be overwhelming. This will be a clear message to the elected Prime Minister that he needs to worry about his country, not his political party. Potami does not want to teach Mr. Tsipras any lessons. But, we want him to stop acting as a leader of party factions.
- The country does not need to waste its time with referendums. How will a referendum give an answer to this? Does anyone really believe that things will get better?
- Mr. Tsipras is lying when he says that banks will reopen soon. How will this be possible? Who will guarantee the banks' liquidity? How will we deal with a potential haircut to deposits? And this problem concerns the poor. The rich have transferred their money abroad.
2 July 2015
