UPDATES from Greece: Vote Day, Tahrir Moment in Syntagma Square and the IMF Pledge that Isn’t

by Scott Creighton

A man racked by shame begs for money as Greeks line up to make their small daily withdrawals from a bank

Alexis Tsipras took his case to the press last night in an hour-long interview on state TV. During that time he defended his 180 degree turn and urged the country to get behind the “irrational” Troika coup because, as he put it, “it’s the best deal Greece can get” Gone was all the pretense he displayed back when he and the rock-star pretended to want Greeks to vote “NO” on the austerity referendum. Now he demands a “YES” from Parliament on the neoliberal economic brick being dropped on the heads of the people he represents. He promised to keep the banks closed until the deal is ratified. More economic terrorism from the “hero” of Greece and the left. Like Obama siding with the republicans to get several of his previous “successes” done in congress, Tsipras looks to the neoliberal opposition parties for support getting the deal finalized.

The terms of the actual deal they are voting on today are far worse than they led us to believe. Not only is this just a measure to kick the can down the road for another 3 years, after which, if the two other bailout deals are any indication, Greece will be right back in the same place they are today just with a higher debt to GDP ratio looming over their heads.

The 85 billion Euro deal will basically do nothing more than pay money to the same banks and institutions that put them in this horrendous place to start with while crippling the economic structure of the country (and thus the tax revenues) to such a point where they are bound to default at a later date.

For that “favor” granted by the Troika, Tsipras has agreed to, among other things, hand over the pink slips to 50 billion euros worth of Greek state property to be held in Athens under the supervision of “relevant European institutions” for future sale to the masters of the universe for pennies on the dollar.  This garage sale of Greece will include not only things like state energy companies and infrastructure but also little tidbits like the Greek islands, nature preserves and even historical ruins. Germany insisted on this provision even after a little modification. Bring back any memories?

The idea of locking up Greek assets in a special fund emerged on Saturday from Germany, the biggest and one of the least forgiving of the creditor-nations involved in the talks. In order to guarantee repayment on loans to Greece, the German Finance Ministry even suggested moving the titles to Greek assets to an “external fund” in Luxembourg so that Athens could not renege on their sale. TIME

Under pressure from the French and the Greeks, the German side apparently recognized, eventually, that locating the privatization fund outside Greece would be one humiliation too far. They did, however, still insist on setting one up; the statement released on Monday said that the fund will be based in Athens and “managed by the Greek authorities under the supervision of the relevant European Institutions.” New Yorker

Tsipras is running around trying to tell his few remaining followers that at least they got a debt restructuring deal out of all of this but that is an outright lie just like Tsipras himself has been since day one.

What about restructuring Greece’s vast debts, which Tsipras had also said would be part of the deal? The statement says that the Eurogroup (the eurozone’s finance ministers, essentially) agreed to consider debt sustainability, but only after Greece implements the terms of the new bailout to the satisfaction of the “Institutions” that will oversee it—i.e., the dreaded “troika,” consisting of the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the I.M.F.

“The Eurogroup stands ready to consider, if necessary, possible additional measures (possible longer grace and payment periods) aiming at ensuring that [Greece’s] financing needs remain at a sustainable level,” the statement says. “These measures will be conditional upon full implementation of the measures to be agreed in a possible new programme and will be considered after the first positive completion of a review.” Even then, the actions to be considered would be modest ones. “The Euro Summit stresses that nominal haircuts on the debt cannot be undertaken,” the statement continues. The New Yorker

The leaders of the Independent party has stated they will certainly vote “NO” due to the fact that within the deal lies various changes to the Greek law, one of which includes giving creditors the ability to seize property of Greek citizens, presumably due to foreclosures. Sounds kind of like how the banksters stole so many homes here in the U.S. doesn’t it?

Over at the Economist, they are trying to portray the capitulation forces within Syriza as “moderates”. There is absolutely nothing “moderate” about this deal which many are saying is the most brutal since Germany was punished for trying to impose fascism on Europe back in WWII. “Moderate”? Is that a joke?

So today the Greek parliament will meet with the intention of debating and eventually voting on the deal cut by Alexis Tsipras which betrayed the “NO more austerity” will of the people of the country expressed through the referendum they held nearly two weeks ago. With opposition growing from within his own party, Tsipras will have to count on support from the very parties his was brought in to counteract. The very parties who have signed one deal after another with the Troika in the past. It will certainly be a contentious vote due to that as well as the extremist nature of the particulars of the deal itself.

Unions of civil servants and government employees are calling for general strikes and demonstrations nationwide starting off in Syntagma Square right outside Parliament. It’s the first time the “left leaning” Syriza party has been protested like this since they came to power in January with the mandate to stop the brutal austerity.This could be the beginning of that Tahrir moment in Greece many of us have been waiting for. It’s unclear how the “leftist” Tsipras will deal with it if it is.

Meanwhile, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has apparently approved the release of a “secret IMF report” that supposedly states the Greek debt is unsustainable and would need a 30 year grace period or “deep upfront haircuts” for any deal to work with the nation. This “secret” memo is certainly not binding in any way and was clearly release prior to the vote in order to provide political cover for those Greek politicians who intend to vote for the deal. In fact, the memo was shared with   European leaders days before they struck the final, brutal austerity deal with Greece this past Monday so as an implied promise of “CHANGE” it is hollow at best.

So today is the day. Will we see videos of fist-fights in the Greek parliament once again? Will it be a Tahrir Sq. moment taking shape outside? Will Tsipras finally expose his true face to the people of Greece when he deploys the military to regain control of the nation he so bitterly deceived all this time? Today’s the day we find out.

———-

EIGHT YEARS AND COUNTING

Please help keep us up and running if you can.

Speaking truth ABOUT power since June 26, 2007

(For my mailing address, please email me at RSCdesigns@tampabay.rr.com)

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Filed under: Alexis Tsipras, Banking Heist, class warfare, disaster capitalism, Economic Crisis ie. Disaster Capitalism, economic terrorism, Fascism, Global Free Market Wars, Globalization, Greek Elections 2015, Greek referendum, Neoliberalizing Greece, Scott Creighton

https://willyloman.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/updates-from-greece-vote-day-tahrir-moment-in-syntagma-square-and-the-imf-pledge-that-isnt/