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Elena Panariti will not be Greece’s representative at the International Monetary Fund, as announced by the close associate to Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis herself in an open letter.

Her act has been prompted by a series of negative reactions from SYRIZA’s MPs. Earlier today, 43 of them, including the two party parliamentarians firmly opposed her appointment by signing a joint letter to the government.

Most of the criticism was related to the fact that Elena Panariti began her political career in Greece as a member of the national list of PASOK, when George Papandreou was the leader of the socialists. She was one of the economists who the cabinet at the time advertised as the experts who would help Greece to emerge from the crisis.

In addition, as an MP, Elena Panariti had voted in support of the first Memorandum of financial assistance to the country. This fact was sufficient for many lawmakers from SYRIZA to define her as "the worst of the series of wrong choices."
 
According to the Greek media, the members of Alexis Tsipras’ team have contacted since morning all those who oppose her appointment to prevent the likelihood of other members signing the letter and to assure them that the issue will be resolved.

In her letter, Panariti states that in this situation it is "impossible" for her to accept the appointment "following the negative reactions of SYRIZA’s MPs and representatives."

Her withdrawal was only a matter of time after last night's meeting of Yanis Varoufakis with Alexis Tsipras that the Minister of Finance left quite pensive. It decided that the solution to the problem would be Elena Panariti’s own initiative to decline to accept the appointment.

However, the environment of the Greek Prime Minister continues to fully support the Minister of Finance who was also an adviser to George Papandreou during his premiership term. Associates to Alexis Tsipras stress that Elena Panariti was not selected unilaterally by Yanis Varoufakis but after voting by the members of the economic team of the Greek government.