By Magda Panoutsopoulou
ATHENS
The left-wing Syriza government in Greece has come under harsh political criticism on Tuesday for securing a four-month extension of its rescue program, after the list of reforms presented by the Greek government was accepted by its European partners.
The leader of the main opposition, center-right New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, lashed out at the government on Tuesday, accusing them of “leading the country further back compared to where it was last November.” He was referring to the reform list presented to the country’s loan partners.
The former prime minister emphasized that with current finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’ proposal, the Syriza government has essentially accepted the former finance minister Ghikas Hardouvelis' e-mail, after Varoufakis accepted an extension of the memorandum.
Samaras was referring to an e-mail his finance minister sent to the troika, which included many of the same proposals made by the current Syriza government.
The former premier noted that with “the former finance ministers’ proposal, Greece was exiting the memorandum era. Now, with the 'Varoufakis proposal,' which has been submitted to the Troika, -- 'the institutions' according to their new name -- he is bringing the memorandum back with worse conditions in some parts, in order to bring a new memorandum, which is now called a contract.”
He continued by stating that the “New Democracy-led government was moving towards an exit from the memorandum with the help of a precautionary credit line in order to be able to return to the markets and not need a new memorandum.”
He concluded by accusing the government of wasting two months of election uncertainty and a month of “virtual negotiation” that brought the country further back compared to where it was.
The center-left Pasok party, New Democracy's former junior coalition partner, took the same stance and said that those who “casted stones on former finance minister Hardouvelis' e-mail, need to realize that it concerned the country’s exit from memorandum."
Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos accused the government of presenting a proposal that “has no relation with the election campaign and pledges, namely, the election campaign of lies and illusions.”
Veteran Syriza MEP Manolis Glezos also heavily criticized the government in a written article on Sunday.
"Renaming the Troika into “Institutions,” the Memorandum of Understanding into “Agreement” and the lenders into “partners,” you do not change the previous situations as in the case renaming “meat” to “fish"," Glezos said in an article published on the left-wing website, Movement for Active Citizens.
The Syriza MEP said that this does not change the vote of the people on Jan. 25 and what Syriza had promised: to end austerity, end the memorandum and abolish the troika.
Greece’s current loan agreement is with the so-called “troika” -- the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- which oversees adjustments to the bailout program.
"A month has gone by and the promise has still not been turned into action. It’s a shame, a real shame," Glezos said.
www.aa.com.tr/en
