Photo - iefimerida.gr
September will be a hot month for Greek politics since the third memorandum between the country and its creditors causes disruptions not only amidst the ruling coalition of Syriza and the Independent Greeks, but also in Europe. Everything depends on the way the new agreement between Greece and its creditors will be voted by parliament at midnight on Thursday. Yesterday morning, the creditors and the government reached an agreement, although in the words of Finance Minister Efklidis Tsakalotos "there are still a couple of open issues". According to some media, he is talking about the restructuring of bad loans and the liberalisation of the energy market.
These two 'open issues' look like technical details and will most likely be resolved, but the key bottlenecks facing the third bailout are called Berlin and Zoe Kostantopoulou, the eccentric left-leaning president of the Greek Parliament. Yesterday, a meeting was held of the representatives of the finance ministries of the European Union, the so-called extended Euro Working Group. The first indications are that the partners are keeping a positive mind vis-a-vis the agreement with Greece.
IMF representative Delia Velculescu stated at the meeting that the IMF is ready to contribute to the new programme, but only from October, provided that the agreed reforms are implemented and measures are taken towards the relieving of the Greek debt. The representatives of finance ministries are putting together documents for the Eurogroup meeting scheduled for Friday; it probably won't be a video conference, but would require the physical presence of the finance ministers. And the Greek side expects the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, to up the ante.
Meanwhile, the Greek government is preparing for battle in parliament, where it is set to discuss the new memorandum on Thursday, with the critical vote taking place at midnight. The text of the agreement was submitted to the National Assembly after 1:00 last night and was published on the official parliamentary website early this morning.
Alexis Tsipras' team is trying to set store by the battles with creditors it has allegedly won, e.g. the shops' being closed on Sunday, collective agreements being retained, and OTC drugs being sold exclusively by pharmacies.
The total €86 billion of the rescue package – instead of 4 billion – is another key factor that boosts the Greek government's self-esteem. Another achievement is the programme's duration of three years – instead of one as negotiated by Antonis Samaras' government. Indeed, the government has no way of hiding behind its 'battles won' the 38 pre-set conditions of the creditors, which embitter the otherwise generous funding of Greece. Among them are reforms such as the elimination of the tax in favour of third parties, the liberalization of the milk and bread markets, the opening of notaries' and judiciary professions' guilds, and the increasing of the retirement age.