A Nation Torn: Greece Grapples With 'Humiliating' Austerity Deal
“The scene in Athens is explosive,” King’s College London professor and Syriza central committee member Stathis Kouvelakis wrote for Jacobin Wednesday afternoon.
Both in and outside of Greek Parliament, tensions are running high.
A largely peaceful anti-austerity rally was disrupted at one point by an hour-long clash between anti-austerity protesters and police, leading to about 50 arrests.
Inside, members of Parliament passionately debated the terms of the deal, with many Syriza party members—some of whom have already stepped down in protest —decrying the so-called rescue package as a “coup” meant to overthrow the government.
Greek MPs have been told that they have to vote on the reforms by midnight local time (5 pm EDT).
Meanwhile, colorful former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who has been outspoken about the bailout deal and Europe’s bargaining tactics, released his own annotated version of the agreement, which he says ultimately “demand[s] that the victim takes all the blame in behalf of the villain.”
With their requirement that Greece impose further austerity measures, Germany and European lenders are essentially demanding the nation subject itself to “fiscal waterboarding,” Varoufakis said.
The Guardian, Reuters, and the Telegraph are all providing live updates on the developments.
With even the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—one-third of the so-called Troika—saying that Greece needs debt relief “far beyond” what European creditors have been willing to consider, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras struggling to win the confidence of his anti-austerity Syriza party, the €86 billion bailout deal struck with eurozone leaders earlier this week faces a vote in Athens on Wednesday night.
In a report released publicly late on Tuesday, the IMF proposed that creditors let Athens write off part of its huge eurozone debt or at least make no payments for 30 years, threatening to withdraw from the bailout agreement if such debt relief couldn’t be achieved. The international lender said Greece’s debt was now “highly unsustainable” and would reach “close to 200 percent of GDP in the next two years.”
On Wednesday, the European Union’s executive Commission echoed that analysis, saying there are “serious concerns” about the sustainability of Greece’s debt.
Meanwhile, Tsipras’s governing party appears to be splintering in the face of a controversial rescue package that critics say would deepen Greece’s acute economic crisis through tax hikes and pension cuts.
Deputy finance minister Nadia Valavani, a Syriza member, resigned Wednesday in a letter to the prime minister. “I’m not going to vote for this amendment and this means I cannot stay in the government,” Valavani told reporters.
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