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SYRIZA’s self-dissolution is a matter of weeks, the problem is what will happen afterwards

15 February 2016 / 19:02:16  GRReporter
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Each policy is evaluated based on its results. Both figures show that the SYRIZA government not only has failed to tackle this complex problem but it has also deteriorated it in order to use it as a means of pressure against our European partners. This policy of blackmailing, namely to receive all refugees, to invite them to come to Greece and send them to the west has apparently provoked reactions on the part of the European partners. As a result, now there is an apparent probability of hundreds of thousands of refugees being blocked in Greece for an unknown period of time. I.e. an irresponsible policy is added to the existing humanitarian tragedy, which was summarized in the statement of former Deputy Minister for Migration Tasia Christodoulopoulou that refugees were sunbathing in Omonia Square and then disappeared. This irresponsible policy on the part of SYRIZA is the reason for the dozens of victims in the Aegean Sea. This is something that history will judge very strictly.

Currently, wanting to break the wave of refugees without having to co-ordinate the steps with the Greek side, Europe is moving its borders to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria. As a result, Greece is actually one foot outside the Schengen area. I would not be surprised if we officially find ourselves outside it, which would mean that we would be on the verge of leaving the Euro zone (Grexit) in my opinion.

The government is defined as extremely inconsistent in terms of economic policy. From the support for the "I do not pay" movement while in opposition, it has turned to over-taxation. Is this the policy that should be expected from a left government as it defines itself?

I think it is ridiculous to talk about a left government when it comes to a national-populist formation with a red-brown face. I am saying this because SYRIZA and Independent Greeks are now very much alike.

Apparently, this government is unable to govern because whatever measure it takes the memories in connection with its election promises immediately come to the surface. And they were in the opposite direction. As a result, the government is based on a mix of inconsistencies and lies, which however cannot produce policies.

This government fires at its feet every day. For precisely this reason, I would forecast that its collapse is a matter of a few weeks. Of course, the problem is what will happen from this point onwards.

Under these circumstances, it is meaningless to assess the economic policy of the government because it does not exist. The logic of the government is to launch a tax offensive on the economically active population not to reduce pensions. This leads to a deadlock because it is caused by the underlying mistake that when the economy of a country is collapsing, it is not possible for pensions to remain unchanged.

Recently, protests by different social groups have become more frequent. Are their demands fair however?

I do not know whether the farmers' demands are fair or not because the issue requires specialized knowledge in connection with the agricultural policy and I am not aware of it.

What I do know is that the logic of imposing one's own will and violence, which SYRIZA cultivated in the past and is now enduring, cannot be tolerated in a constitutional state. Even if farmers are within their right, the way they have preferred to fight for it, namely by roadblocks and scenes of destruction outside the buildings of ministries, is depriving them of it.

Unfortunately, we are facing the following strange and sad phenomenon: while the political violence that I systematically explore was the privilege of political extremes (extreme right and extreme left) until recently, it has now socialized. Led by farmers, the broad social strata perceive as their legal right to invade SYRIZ’s offices, block up their doors with bricks, set fire to the party flags and posters. I am categorically and unconditionally against these practices.

Those who are not opposing them, chewing over various hints, are the affected SYRIZA representatives themselves. For example, on occasion of the attack with Molotov bombs against the house of State Minister Alekos Flambouraris a few ago, the communication of SYRIZA stated the following: "We condemn the attack and continue the fight against the vicious ties and interests." Did the vicious ties and anonymous interests throw the bombs? The attackers were the far left storming groups that SYRIZA is hesitant to convict even today, when it is a victim of their violence.

What are your impressions of the 1st month of Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the head of New Democracy? Is this opening a new page in the development of the centre-right political space? Are the hopes of wider circles of Greek society associated with him justified?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis unexpectedly was elected leader. Nobody believed that he had a serious chance of being elected. He began his campaign as an outsider, mostly because his reformist rhetoric was not particularly typical of the supporters and followers of New Democracy.

Unexpectedly, this identity of his aroused hopes in a much wider space, driving citizens who do not belong ideologically to New Democracy to vote for him and ultimately to nominate him a leader. That has been the only positive event in our country in recent months, because it is raising hopes for the existence of a serious alternative to the national populism of SYRIZA.

How do you assess the situation in the centre-left space?

Now it is torn apart, debased and hopeless. Its social base proved inferior to the circumstances. It was weighed, measured and found to be insufficient.

Tags: PoliticsSYRIZAIndependent GreeksGovernment authoritarianismSilencing the mediaSocial protestsPetros Papasarandopoulos
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