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Anastasia Balezdrova

During the critical voting in the Greek parliament last Wednesday, 32 SYRIZA MPs did not support the agreement with creditors. A cabinet reshuffle followed that removed the far left ministers and simultaneously strengthened the involvement of the coalition partner, Independent Greeks, in it. This coming Wednesday will face the MPs from the radical left with the second big test. They will be invited to vote on the first series of austerity measures and another outflow of government MPs will be possible again.

So far, their number is unclear as well as if it will question the credibility of the government and to what extent. However, their apparent tactic is "I will not vote for the measures but support the government."

At the same time, the first attempts of the cabinet to avoid the strict conditions of the agreement are already noticeable. Earlier today, sources from the Ministry of Finance said that they were seeking ways to prevent the representatives of the supervisory Troika from entering the building and reviewing the state of the Greek economy. It has also become clear that measures such as the elimination of early retirement and taxation of farmers have been withdrawn from the bill that will be voted on Wednesday.

The excuses on the part of SYRIZA MPs that "we do not support the agreement but had to accept it" are jeopardizing the stabilization of Greece’s situation and increasing the risk of Grexit, as stated by economic adviser and commentator George Prokopakis. In an interview with GRReporter he warns that the deepening alliance between SYRIZA and Independent Greeks, and the silent consent of Golden Dawn are posing threats to Greek society.

Mr. Prokopakis, do you think the government is able to implement the serious measures that are envisaged in the agreement with creditors?

I do not think so and I would even add that in no case is it able to do so. The cabinet reshuffle is one of the signs that it is intending to implement no serious measures, except those that apply with a ministerial signature. I.e., wage cuts, tax increases and so forth. The government in question will do absolutely nothing to implement the reforms. Its composition is highly non-reformist and elections seem to be in store. The plan is to give the alliance between SYRIZA and Independent Greeks some time to strengthen its position and announce elections at a later stage. I do not know if they will be held. However, the cabinet has certainly a pre-election composition, as was the case with the last Samaras’ cabinet after the reshuffle in June 2014 when populists entered it and all attempts to push for reforms were suspended.

The voting on even more severe measures will take place on Wednesday. Is it likely for the government to be intact after the voting and to what extent?

I do not know if it will be intact. The feeling is that an even larger number of SYRIZA MPs would not support them and that the number of MPs who support the cabinet might drop below 120 from the initial 162.

If the 106 MPs from the pro-European parties (New Democracy, PASOK and Potami) vote in favour of the measures and the number of SYRIZA and Independent Greeks MPs who support them is 110, for example, the sum will be a very strong majority for them. As I understand it, according to the Constitution, the government continues to enjoy the confidence of parliament in such a situation. Neither party will submit a no confidence vote, therefore, there will be no problem, but only formally.

However, there is a problem and a huge one though, in political terms and in fact. Because if this situation continues, with SYRIZA MPs not supporting the bills and arguing that they support the government, the Prime Minister will be forced to solve it at one point. This mockery must stop because a government that is an opposition to it itself cannot get very far.

How would you define the actions of the opposition? Is its position correct? What actions should it take according to you?

I have argued from the beginning that this fictitious national unity is a very big mistake. The position of pro-European parties to vote on all the bills related to the agreement is actually a non-political position and it is providing no way out of the situation.

My opinion is that the 39% positive vote in the referendum was a loss on the one hand but it was a very high, consistent and firm rate on the other, in view of the harsh conditions under which the voting took place. Moreover, objectively it is higher than the 36% with which SYRIZA won the elections in January.

Instead of "presenting" Tsipras with those 39%, the pro-European opposition would have to use them as a condition for the creation of a solid pro-European front that would have not allowed games with early elections, which Tsipras is playing for the time being. Not to mention that this percentage was achieved without any central intervention. I.e., it could have been much higher if there were a specific politician to head the positive vote. Therefore, in my opinion it is a mistake that the opposition is giving the "white check" to the government in terms of "political blackmailing".