From The World Socialist Web Site
In the aftermath of Sunday’s landslide “no” vote in the Greek referendum on the European Union’s austerity demands, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is desperately seeking a new austerity deal with the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
At a meeting with the European “institutions” today, Tsipras is set to present what he called, in a speech before the European Parliament yesterday, “credible reforms” for a “fair and viable solution” to the crisis in Greece. By this is meant an agreement that is acceptable to the European institutions, which are demanding harsh austerity measures in return for any further bailout funds.
Even as Tsipras spoke, Syriza’s new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, dispatched a letter pledging to “immediately” impose a “comprehensive set of reforms and measures to be implemented in the areas of fiscal sustainability, financial stability, and long-term economic growth.” The letter refers to unspecified “tax reform-related measures” and “pension-related measures”—i.e., increases in regressive sales taxes and cuts in retirement benefits.
Far from acting upon the mandate that the overwhelming “no” vote gave him, Tsipras is continuing the policy of retreat and surrender that his Syriza-led government initiated from its first day in office. It is difficult to point to anything that the government is now doing that differs from what it would have done had the Greek people voted “yes” on the EU’s austerity demands.
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