National Unity government to be formed in Greece / Greek General Elections

[fluffybiscuits]

@DCon christ man that is a sign of things to come if ever I did see it! It seems that they are preparing for a return to the drachma. The journal had an article this morning which discussed what happens if the drachma comes back.

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/thi...68347-May2012/

@Eliphant

Astute move from Syrzia, it would relieve some stress on the soup kitchens and give people access to much needed .

[C. Flower]

A report on the Syriza programme. Worth paying close attention to in Ireland.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w...06/2012_444972

[C. Flower]

The latest Poll in Greece puts SYRIZA at 30% well ahead of the pack with ND in second and PASOK still 3rd but haemmoriging votes. They have, according to this poll, dropped to just under 12.5% of the vote.
The poll was conducted by VPRC for the weekly "Epikaira", and read as follows:

SYRIZA 30% – NEA DIMOCRATIA 26.5% – PASOK 12.5% – DEMOCRATIC LEFT 7.5% – INDEPENDENT GREEKS 7.5% – KKE 5.5% – CHRYSI AVGI 4.5%

This poll puts SYRIZA within 2 % points of the magic 32%, whcih would give them the 50 seat bonus, and thus an overall majority. Panic stations in the EU...

Has the Court ruled yet on whether Syriza is a party?

[Ephilant]

I've asked the question many a times, and nobody seems to know. There could of course be a lot of phone calls happening between Brussels/Berlin and Athens. If they can organize a downright economic boycot as they just did re. import insurance etc, then it's a simple thing tell a judge what to think...

[Ephilant]

I've spent a lot of the afternoon going thorugh the SYRIZA program. If nothing else, this is thourough. Extremely thourough. So thourough that would take days to translate, leave alone condense into a post. But here are the main points in terms of economic policy.

First, Tsipras' opening statement:
” We introduce our programme, a programme that does not request the Troika approval but the approval of the Greek people. The memorandum of Understanding is the auto pilot to complete destruction.We reject it out of hand."
H e also stated that the only basis for talks is "new debt rescheduling in order to drastically reduce it, or a moratorium on debt and a suspension of interest payments until conditions for stabilization and recovery are there."

These are the main points of the program


1) Replacement of MoU with National Recovery Plan

2) Unemployment benefit to be restored to 461 euro and to be prolonged for two years. Unemployment benefit for self-employed, providing they have paid their contribution.

3) Cancellation of MoU-imposed flexible work contracts.

4) Suspending payment of interest rates until stable conditions apply.

5) Cancellation of “emergency taxes” first of all for jobless (the "Deemed income" bit)

6) An annual 4% increase in the top tax rate for the next 4 years, which would bring the tax rate for those earning 100,000€ or more to 61%

7) Gradual decrease of V.A.T. and a 0 VAT rate for food

8) Immediate decrease of VAT in tourism and catering

9) An immediate halt to the privatization of public organizations like telephone company OTE, railways TRAINOSE, water company EYTHAP, electric company PPC (DEI), the post office, and a reversal of those already "processed".

10) Immediate ‘freezing’ of cuts in social benefits, salaries and pensions

11) Nationalization of banks under ‘public and transparent control’.

To raise revenue to pay for such measures Tsipras plans to confiscate property from those who fail to pay taxes; sign a bilateral agreement with Switzerland on the taxation of savings of Greek citizens there; a radical reform of the tax system to redistribute wealth; and the introduction of a National Agreement to raise taxes from ship owners and the maritime industry, currently operating at 0%!

He also announced the removal of the 50 seat bonus system, a reduction in the amount of parliamentarians by at least 40% and a dratic overhaul of the elction laws mainly aimed at putting an immediate halt to "political dynasties", the removal of parliamentarial immunity across the board with immediate effect.

He further announced a bilateral agreement with Turkey to stop the process of armaments and replace it with a program of economic cooperation and education. He further announced an immediate resolution to the "problem" of FYROM and an introduction of program of economic cooperation and education.

Criminalizing holocaust denial, the use of Fascist symbols or symbols based on fascist symbols or ideologies, and a thourough cleansing of the police and military of "fascist" elements and influences with immediate effect.

It has emerged this afternoon that Tsipras has been in Switzerland to negotiate the tax deal and will sign it as soon as he gets the mandate from the people, he has also been to Turkey and Skopje and had a lenghty meeting spread over 3 days with the top brass of the army and police forces of Greece. Presenting the program as he did would be a strong indication of the necessary agreements being in place and ready to be enacted after Jun 17th.

The program has a further section on reform of health care, labour law, and social law which will take a lenghty amount of time to go thorugh, but, if you feel like polishing up on your Greek, this is where you find it.

Why do I think this man is not going to be Mr. Popular in Berlin, Brussels or Paris for that matter?

[Ephilant]

Exactly one week to go, and we'll know a lot more re. Greece but also the EU. Unless it's another hung parliament of course...

Meanwhile, the various parties have been doing thier best to get as many voters as they can to vote for them. Although, with some of them, you would wonder what they are thinking. When a spokesperson for your party thumps a woman 9 times, live on TV, it tneds to turn people away from the party. Which is exactly what this did. the latest running poll shows Chrysi Avgi on less than the required 3 %.
Nea Democratia is alos playing a strange game, by openly admitting that they are trying to lure Chrysi Avgi people elected on May 6th to join their ranks and swell the party's presence in parliament... they have also appointed an openly corrupt, and confessed to be just that, politician from Thessaloniki as their director of elections. Can't help but wonder what is going on there, they are either deaf, dumb and blind, or just plain stupid?

On a brighter note, Democratic left has made a blatantly transparent overture to Syriza. Kouvelis has published a 7 point plan, based on which he would agree to share governmental responsibilities with.

- a total overhaul of the political system, including the removal of parliamentary and ministerial immunity and the introduction of a law allowing the assets of government members and senior civil servants who have served since 1974 to be inspected. He also wants a reduction in MPs wages and end to pensions for parliamentarians, a halving of state funding for parties, and the introduction of proportional representation

- the disengament from the EU-IMF memorandum

- a complete overhaul of Greece’s productive capacity, with emphasis on creating self sufficiency, espcially in the area of energy supply. ( this is a thinly veiled demand of the re-taking of the He
lios program, currently "under management" of a German consortium who are manoeuvreing to purchase the lands and systems under the EU/IMF imposedprivatization programme
- a complete overhaul of Greece's agriculture, again with emphasis on becoming self sufficient
- measures to ensure citizens safety
- measures to resolve the immigrant problem
- reinstating of social security programs, including the reversal of the freezing of wage and pension cuts, the reinstatement of the previous minimum wage, restoring collective contracts, and increasing the tax-free threshold
- "certain" measures on foreign policy, again a thinly veiled approval of the SYRIZA announced policy of cooperation wiht Turkey and Skopje

Good old Venizelos also produced the PASOK 8 point plan, which could be seen as the draft (headlines only) of the Democratic Left programme. Unfortunately, it remains headlines only. Venixelos literally proposed another 3 year talk shop, which would ensure itself a lifetime of 3 years (point 8 in his plan). And then he wonders why PASOK is haemorraging votes...

[Ephilant]

BooHoo, how sad! the army has complained that it has run out of money, and has "exhausted every type of ingenuity by stripping old vehicles, vessels and even guns to service ones that are still in use". They have complained to the current minister for Defense that this situation is intolerable and funds must be provided for "procurement to maintain the condition what they have".
For years they have been laundering diesel, robbing the country of billions. Uncle Sam just gave them a load of second hand tanks and people carriers, maybe it's time to get in on the scrap metal business? Their fuel buddies in Bulgaria know how to handle that as well, as the disappearing Strymonas bridge proves. 60 % of the bridge, built by the army in the sixties has been stolen. Stefanos Mandylas, chief of police in the Serres region says that they intercept full truckloads of "scrap metal" heading for Bulgaria. The trucks contain anything from girders from the old bridge to the electric wires from the new bridge...

On behalf of Syriza, Tsipras did have a meeting wiht them about 2 weeks ago, and flatly told them "no more". The money is badly needed elswhere.

[Slim Buddha]

BooHoo, how sad! the army has complained that it has run out of money, and has "exhausted every type of ingenuity by stripping old vehicles, vessels and even guns to service ones that are still in use". They have complained to the current minister for Defense that this situation is intolerable and funds must be provided for "procurement to maintain the condition what they have".
For years they have been laundering diesel, robbing the country of billions. Uncle Sam just gave them a load of second hand tanks and people carriers, maybe it's time to get in on the scrap metal business? Their fuel buddies in Bulgaria know how to handle that as well, as the disappearing Strymonas bridge proves. 60 % of the bridge, built by the army in the sixties has been stolen. Stefanos Mandylas, chief of police in the Serres region says that they intercept full truckloads of "scrap metal" heading for Bulgaria. The trucks contain anything from girders from the old bridge to the electric wires from the new bridge...

On behalf of Syriza, Tsipras did have a meeting wiht them about 2 weeks ago, and flatly told them "no more". The money is badly needed elswhere.

I am trying to think of anybody in Dail Eireann who would be the equal of Tsipras but........................................no, nobody comes to mind.

[Ephilant]

I am trying to think of anybody in Dail Eireann who would be the equal of Tsipras but........................................no, nobody comes to mind.

Why do you think we are being told be everybody, lately Obama has waded in as well, that he would be the "wrong" vote? They just can't handle him, and most importantly he has the support of the vast majority of the people. And then you get the likes of Schauble saying that the Greeks only vote for him because the are unhappy, they really don't mean it you know. Our heart simply has to be with PASOK or ND, that just goes without saying...

[Ephilant]

the army has complained that it has run out of money, and has "exhausted every type of ingenuity by stripping old vehicles, vessels and even guns to service ones that are still in use". They have complained to the current minister for Defense that this situation is intolerable and funds must be provided for "procurement to maintain the condition what they have".

This morning, while we took in another 2 families (10 people in all) to the shelter, and have started preparing food for nearly 1,500 people who rely on us for a daily meal, our friends of the army, who are in the intolerable position of having no funds, flew over with no less than 6 military jets. At a cost of 22,000€ per hour to fly each of these things, enough money was wasted in that split second to feed all our people for the year, supply them with the care and medication they need, and provide proper instead of make-shift shelter for them. But of course "existing contracts must be honoured", isn't that so Herr Schauble? Be assured though, the Greek people will vote correctly...

[DCon]

Seems to be the case!

What is of critical importance though is that if they leave the Euro that they will default on some $1.3 trillion in total debt that can be afforded by no one. That is the rub and you may ignore the rest of the Eurospeak that is bandied about from Brussels to Berlin. A default by Greece will bankrupt and cause re-capitalization at the European Central Bank, it will throw the IMF into a tailspin and it will play havoc with Target2 and the German Central Bank. Do not allow yourself to be taken in and mis-directed; this is THE issue and the only issue of real importance.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/world-...er-tales-spain

[Ephilant]

Seems to be the case!



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/world-...er-tales-spain

And after the Spanish proving that the Tsipras game of chicken does pay, there is quite a buzz around the place here, much to the disgust of the "correct" parties...

[Ephilant]

A few people have asked lately, and I'm happy to report that SYRIZA have indeed obtained the single party status that will, in the event of them becoming the biggest party, allow them to claim the 50 seat bonus.
the latest "running polls" put SYRIZA at 30.5%, ND at 26%, PASOK at 11.5%, Dem Left (otherwise known as Baby PASOK) at 7%, Independent Greeks at 5.5%, KKE at 6%, Chrysi Avgi 4.5%, all the others (Greens etc) sharing the remainder, but non of them reaching 3%. The biggest party of those seems to be the Greens at 2.8%.

If this translates into reality, it means that SYRIZA is 2 seats short (Including the 50 bonus seats) of an overall majority.
Samaras is heavily on the fear mongering path with all sorts of doomsday scenario's being offered if SYRIZA become the biggest party, but he has flatly refused to accept an invitation for an open TV debate with Tsipras. Samaras is only interested in a "debate" with vetted questions and limited answering time, which promptedTsipras to state that "his refusal to answer to the people is the biggest insult to the people". 4 more days to Armageddon...

[C. Flower]

A few people have asked lately, and I'm happy to report that SYRIZA have indeed obtained the single party status that will, in the event of them becoming the biggest party, allow them to claim the 50 seat bonus.
the latest "running polls" put SYRIZA at 30.5%, ND at 26%, PASOK at 11.5%, Dem Left (otherwise known as Baby PASOK) at 7%, Independent Greeks at 5.5%, KKE at 6%, Chrysi Avgi 4.5%, all the others (Greens etc) sharing the remainder, but non of them reaching 3%. The biggest party of those seems to be the Greens at 2.8%.

If this translates into reality, it means that SYRIZA is 2 seats short (Including the 50 bonus seats) of an overall majority.
Samaras is heavily on the fear mongering path with all sorts of doomsday scenario's being offered if SYRIZA become the biggest party, but he has flatly refused to accept an invitation for an open TV debate with Tsipras. Samaras is only interested in a "debate" with vetted questions and limited answering time, which promptedTsipras to state that "his refusal to answer to the people is the biggest insult to the people". 4 more days to Armageddon...

That's positive.

Hollande is piling his coals on the grexit fire. Although I would like to see a proper report on what he said.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/ant...it-555261.html

One would think that some states would defend Greece's position for fear they might be next themselves.

[fluffybiscuits]

A few people have asked lately, and I'm happy to report that SYRIZA have indeed obtained the single party status that will, in the event of them becoming the biggest party, allow them to claim the 50 seat bonus.
the latest "running polls" put SYRIZA at 30.5%, ND at 26%, PASOK at 11.5%, Dem Left (otherwise known as Baby PASOK) at 7%, Independent Greeks at 5.5%, KKE at 6%, Chrysi Avgi 4.5%, all the others (Greens etc) sharing the remainder, but non of them reaching 3%. The biggest party of those seems to be the Greens at 2.8%.

If this translates into reality, it means that SYRIZA is 2 seats short (Including the 50 bonus seats) of an overall majority.
Samaras is heavily on the fear mongering path with all sorts of doomsday scenario's being offered if SYRIZA become the biggest party, but he has flatly refused to accept an invitation for an open TV debate with Tsipras. Samaras is only interested in a "debate" with vetted questions and limited answering time, which promptedTsipras to state that "his refusal to answer to the people is the biggest insult to the people". 4 more days to Armageddon...

Sounds very much like Inda here refusing to debate the fiscal treaty for he knew he was on the path to winning and a debate otherwise could skew the vote in favour of a new vote. The lack of engagement of Samaras is indicative that the man is scared, he comes on for a live TV debate and Tspirias will roast him alive and quite easily too one imagines. Tsipras has proved he has the balls to run government with standing up to Merkel and in the latest move telling the army where to stick their request for extra dosh. Sunday (the day of voting isnt it?) is going to be very interesting...