full blown confrontation
Greece gripped by full-blown social confrontation. Unprecedented alliances, costly souvlakia and a government appointed agency blowing the whistle. (Ethnos
http://bit.ly/njBLdF
Full-blown confrontation
By George Delastique
Ethnos 2/9
By September 1st, Greek society was already ablaze, just as expected. More and more social and professional groups clash with the policies of PM Papandreou, who, nevertheless, reiterated that he has absolutely no intention of resorting to early elections.
The upheaval spreads from university to university like a forest fire with raging winds. Over 100 university departments are already closed in protest and any department that holds internal meetings, decides to join the movement. University students and teachers have formed a common front and also, all student political parties, even the ones affiliated with the socialist government, (PASP) and the conservative opposition (DAP) have come together in an unprecedented alliance against the new university law.
The fact that the socialist government and the conservative opposition both voted for the new law in parliament has not been translated into the slightest support inside the universities.
Minister of Education Anna Diamantopoulou has chosen outright confrontation with students, university rectors and teachers, but whether this policy will succeed will depend on the alliances the government forms inside the universities.
Meanwhile, the deadly combination of government incompetence, bureaucracy and economic crisis has left primary and secondary school students without books. Millions of schoolbooks have not yet been printed and those responsible admit it will take two to three months for the books to eventually reach every student.
At the same time, the economy keeps degenerating. At the forefront now is the outrageous decision to raise the VAT for cheesepies, souvlaki etc to 23%. Taverna owners collectively decided they will not pay any VAT at all, which means they will evade all their taxes.
In stark contrast to last year, when citizens entousiastically heeded the government call for a nationwide “receipt collection movement”, forcing even bakeries to issue receipts for 70 cents’ worth of bread, this time there will be very few people willing to cooperate against tax evasion with a government that has pillaged wages and pensions and dismantled all labour and pension rights.
As if this was not enough, even the government appointed Parliament Budget Office has stated that there is no way the government will accomplish the fiscal targets set in conjunction with the troika. This, of course, means that both Memorandum and the Medium Term austerity plan have utterly failed, government incomptetence notwithstanding.
The biggest tragedy is that at the end of 2012, public debt, which was 115% of GDP when G. Papandreou first became prime minister, (or 127% based on questionable “corrections”) will shoot up to an unprecedented 172% of GDP as a result of Memorandum and Medium Term policies.
This could mean that Greece will never again be able to rid itself of foreign fiscal occupation, a term used by Venizelos at the government meeting.
It is patently obvious that there is no economic way out. There can be no solution while crushing austerity prevails, while all projects that could lead to development have stalled and the state has quietly halted all payments inside the country. The solution can be nothing but political. A radical shift of economic policy, finally decided either by the EU or by some greek government.
By George Delastique
Ethnos 2/9
By September 1st, Greek society was already ablaze, just as expected. More and more social and professional groups clash with the policies of PM Papandreou, who, nevertheless, reiterated that he has absolutely no intention of resorting to early elections.
The upheaval spreads from university to university like a forest fire with raging winds. Over 100 university departments are already closed in protest and any department that holds internal meetings, decides to join the movement. University students and teachers have formed a common front and also, all student political parties, even the ones affiliated with the socialist government, (PASP) and the conservative opposition (DAP) have come together in an unprecedented alliance against the new university law.
The fact that the socialist government and the conservative opposition both voted for the new law in parliament has not been translated into the slightest support inside the universities.
Minister of Education Anna Diamantopoulou has chosen outright confrontation with students, university rectors and teachers, but whether this policy will succeed will depend on the alliances the government forms inside the universities.
Meanwhile, the deadly combination of government incompetence, bureaucracy and economic crisis has left primary and secondary school students without books. Millions of schoolbooks have not yet been printed and those responsible admit it will take two to three months for the books to eventually reach every student.
At the same time, the economy keeps degenerating. At the forefront now is the outrageous decision to raise the VAT for cheesepies, souvlaki etc to 23%. Taverna owners collectively decided they will not pay any VAT at all, which means they will evade all their taxes.
In stark contrast to last year, when citizens entousiastically heeded the government call for a nationwide “receipt collection movement”, forcing even bakeries to issue receipts for 70 cents’ worth of bread, this time there will be very few people willing to cooperate against tax evasion with a government that has pillaged wages and pensions and dismantled all labour and pension rights.
As if this was not enough, even the government appointed Parliament Budget Office has stated that there is no way the government will accomplish the fiscal targets set in conjunction with the troika. This, of course, means that both Memorandum and the Medium Term austerity plan have utterly failed, government incomptetence notwithstanding.
The biggest tragedy is that at the end of 2012, public debt, which was 115% of GDP when G. Papandreou first became prime minister, (or 127% based on questionable “corrections”) will shoot up to an unprecedented 172% of GDP as a result of Memorandum and Medium Term policies.
This could mean that Greece will never again be able to rid itself of foreign fiscal occupation, a term used by Venizelos at the government meeting.
It is patently obvious that there is no economic way out. There can be no solution while crushing austerity prevails, while all projects that could lead to development have stalled and the state has quietly halted all payments inside the country. The solution can be nothing but political. A radical shift of economic policy, finally decided either by the EU or by some greek government.