We are not here to provoke. But we are sick of you questionning our intelligence. When it comes to prerequisites, the refugee issue, everyday administration. This is why we will be on the other side. In this specific bill, we voted down all clientelism and damaging measures and voted for the few useful ones. This is the responsible path that we will follow, away from the popular sterile policy.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of SYRIZA,
I want us to turn back time, and get back to May 2015. I used to say to the journalists back then “We say that an agreement must be reached. If this is a European agreement, which will keep the country in the Eurozone and will not lead it to the edge of the cltement. A statement, which was, later on, misused by SYRIZA members, claiming that it was me who iff, then we will support this agreement. This was my staforced them to reach any kind of a deal.
I want you to listen to my statement again: “If a European agreement is reached, one that keeps the country in the Eurozone and not to the edge of the cliff, we will support it”. So, let's see if I was right or wrong.
The measures that you want to implement – yesterday and tomorrow – they prove that I was right. We would have avoided many of these things, that you promote this winter, if you had negotiated and if you had reached a deal, before the end of the programme, before you shut the banks down.
But, maybe, it does not matter what I am saying, because I belong to the opposition. So, let's see what some of your new friends say. Let's see what Mr Jean-Claude Juncker says – your valuable partner - following your latest turn. We don't know if you noticed.
So, what is Mr Juncker saying: “Greece would have paid a much lower cost, if Mr Tsipras had accepted the proposal that I had made”. This is what he said, in the documentary “Greece, the day after”, broadcast in ARTE channel. “Greece would have paid a much lower cost”. This phrase will be hunting you.
Besides, Mr Tsipras admitted the statement above, in a radio interview in Kokkino Radio. He said “We got carried away in negotiations. This was, in fact, a constant wear of our flesh”. This is, more or less, what Mr Dragasakis, Vice-President of the government, stated in ERT in August. He said “We thought that if we threatened with the Grexit scenario, Europeans would have been afraid. This was a false assumption”.
Please allow me to add some more interesting statements by your new political supporters, in this documentary broadcast in the french-german TV channel. Pierre Moscovici says “Varoufakis was the person who was there in order not to negotiate”. Mr Moscovici adds that Mr Varoufakis followed the Prime Minister's guidelines not to negotiate. The Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs also adds many other things. He mentions the role that Mr Pappas was playing in negotiations. “Everytime Mr Pappas was there. He used to say – Prime Minister, you cannot negotiate on this basis. And then Mr Tsipras would get back saying that he cannot negotiate on this basis”. This is the exact statement of Mr Moscovici.
What is also interesting in the interview is what Mr Juncker and Mr Moscovici say about – as they say – the fear of the Prime Minister. He was afraid that the interests of certain Greeks would be touched. He was actually referring to those Greeks “who have already transferred their actitivities abroad, but they still want to invest in Greece”. Who are these Greeks?
Mr Juncker says “I was there, with Tsipras, my fellow partner – this is what he says. I spent two hours trying to convince him to accept to impose taxes, in a fair way, to shipowners. For two hours. I had to remind him that he was the communist, and I was the Christian Democrat. Meaning that I am supposed to be the conservative and reactive. Instead, I am here to explain to you what you are supposed to do”.
Moscovici presents his own point of view on what was happening, in a humorous way. He says: “Jean-Claude Juncker turned to me and said “Thank God we are here to defend socialist ideas”.
But, let's get back to the question, constantly posed by society. Why all these measures had to be implemented? Why do we have to go through this injustice? Why do we have to go through this storm of taxes? Why do we have to go through all deprivation once again? Because you did not negotiate and you signed a deal, at the point when you had your backs against the wall.
So, the prerequisites, that you ask us to vote for – today and tomorrow and the day after that – are the product of your inability and ideology.
We supported the scenario of Greece staying in the Eurozone. This is all known. But, from now on, you need to move on your own. We will only vote for the necessary and we will not vote for your mistakes. There is no parallel program, like the one you promised before the elections? There are no equivalent measures, because you just don't want to cut down on the expenditures of your protected ones.
You need to give some answers, not just claim that the institutions are putting pressure on you. As far as the red loans are concerned, we suggested accumulating all these loans in a “bad bank” with transparent criteria. Its capitalisation must take place in a way that the debt will not be encumbered – with a combination of private capitals and state guarantees. This will stimulate the national economy, while also releasing the borrowing capacity of banks.
I would like to refer, now, to the regugee waves and how we can handle them. From Mytilene, where I was in April, we have been urging you to take initiatives, so that the European Union and Turkey finally reach an agreement, stipulatingg that migration and refugee flows must be restrained in the Turkish territory.
Do you know the Prime Minister's Press Office replied to us, in the beginning of October? “To Potami's sad view reflect the ideology of Marine Le Pen”.
Alexis Tsipras, today, from Mytilene, having Mr Schulz by his side stated: “What is necessary is to reach an agreement with Turkey, in order to prevent the flows. Structures must be established in the opposite side, so that resettlement can take place from the Turkish coastline”.
So, Mr Tsipras took this one step further. Who dictated all this to you, Mr Tsipras? Marine Le Pen? So, we urge you to organize a Summit in Thessaloniki, with the participation of European institutions and, of course, Turkey. Mr Schulz, whom I met yesterday, has already said that he agrees with the idea.
We are not supposed to tackle the issue of migration flows, on the basis of the promises of Mrs Merkel or only in cooperation with Mr Erdogan. This is wrong. Besides, this would pose a national danger. Greece cannot and must not become people's repository, for some uncertain exchange.
Ladies and gentlemen of this government.
We are not here to provoke. But we are sick of you questionning our intelligence. When it comes to prerequisites, the refugee issue, everyday administration. This is why we will be on the other side. In this specific bill, we voted down all clientelism and damaging measures and voted for the few useful ones. This is the responsible path that we will follow, away from the popular sterile policy.
Photo credit: Theodore Manolopoulos
