We publish here a further statement from the Communist Tendency of SYRIZA, which outlines the inevitable confrontation and collision between the SYRIZA-led government – which was elected on a programme of opposing austerity – and the Troika – the IMF, EC, and ECB – which is demanding continued cuts and “structural reforms”.
We publish here a further statement from the Communist Tendency of SYRIZA, which outlines the inevitable confrontation and collision between the SYRIZA-led government – which was elected on a programme of opposing austerity – and the Troika – the IMF, EC, and ECB – which is demanding continued cuts and “structural reforms”.
[Written by The Communist Tendency of SYRIZA on 8th February 2015]
Last Sunday’s government programme announcement by the Greek Prime Minister did not contain the sort of backtracking that the ruling class and the Troika are seeking. The government and SYRIZA should maintain a dignified and firm position. A confrontation with the Troika and capital is inevitable, given that they have no desire to negotiate with the government. Rather they seek to humiliate it, have no qualms about undermining its commitments to the Greek people and even about expelling Greece from the Euro. Therefore, the important measures contained in the government’s programme cannot be implemented unless these are supported by a socialist programme.
The announcement of the government programme led to a feeling of relief and satisfaction among the workers and poorer sections of society, as they did not contain the retreats that the Greek ruling class and the Troika’s austerity policies demand.
Naturally, SYRIZA’s Communists welcome the government’s intentions not to give in to the provocative ultimatums of Germany, and to the ECB’s attempt to suffocate the Greek banking system. We welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment in view of the Eurogroup meeting this Wednesday (11/2) that “the government will not betray the pride and dignity of the Greek people.”
However, we call on the Prime Minister and our other comrades in the party leadership, to have no illusions about the prospect of an agreement with the lenders which is advantageous for the Greek people, since the actions of these lenders have made it abundantly clear that any subsequent agreement will be based on the humiliation of the Greek people.
An eventual face-off with the Troika is inevitable if the government wants to stay its course. Fearing that the electoral victory of leftist parties will spread across Europe, the Troika has no intention of engaging in meaningful negotiations at the Eurogroup meeting this Wednesday. It will demand that the Greek government renounces its declared programme and once more submits to, and complies with, the austerity policies stipulated in the Memoranda agreement with the Troika. The Troika will intensify its pressures on the Greek government by not hesitating to follow the example it set with Cyprus in March 2013, and is even prepared to expel Greece from the Eurozone.
What is also inevitable, should the government stay its course, is the confrontation with capital that dictates the country’s economic life. After the announcement of the government’s programme last Sunday, which would effectively deprive Greek and foreign capitalists of the benefits that they acquired under the Memoranda in recent years, one should expect them to engage in a series of hostile practices against the government including a flight of capital and disinvestment.
Thus, within the inescapable context of an imminent clash with the Troika and capital, the only way to finance and deliver the promises contained in the government’s programme is the cancellation of the debt, the nationalisation of the banking system, and the implementation of a programme of nationalisation of the main levers of the economy under democratic planning and workers control for the benefit of society at large. The adoption and immediate implementation of a socialist programme is indispensable if we are to maintain a determined and dignified stance towards the Troika, and to stick to the programme the party was elected on.
Published on In Defence of Marxism
