Galery

1

"We will not back down (...), the path we follow will not be easy, it will be an uphill struggle," said Tsipras. "We made steps towards convergence, but there are limits, which the demands of the people and public opinion do not allow us to cross," said the Premier at the meeting of SYRIZA’s Central Committee.

Tsipras pointed out that the majority of people want a sustainable solution, rather than just an agreement, and support the government in its difficult negotiations "despite the media propaganda."

He slammed some of the institutions mentioning the "architects of the least successful programmes who insist on extremes rather than admit their mistakes."

Tsipras also lashed out against some of the representatives of the creditors: he said they abused the leverage of financial pressure to alter the 20 February agreement.

"We showed that we are ready for concessions. What we wanted from our partners was due respect and equivalent concessions. We took our step in the negotiations, it is therefore time for Europe to take its own step," stressed Tsipras.

Besides the foreigners’ troika, he added, there was a lobby of troika supporters in the country who benefited all those years. According to Tsipras, the enemies are not only in Berlin, Washington or Brussels, they are also in Greece; sometimes those in Greece are even stronger and have vested interests in the memoranda.

"We will not tolerate those who are pushing developments towards a rift in a planned way," fumed Tsipras, and went on: "In the last days before the agreement, those who can help – let them do so. Those who are unwilling to help – let them keep quiet."

"We made concessions, but we also have our red lines. We gained quite a lot with our tactic," said the Premier. He argued that the bottom line of negotiations is lowering the 2015 and 2016 targets for primary budget surpluses, with increases for further years, but still at reasonable levels and contingent on Greek economic growth. "We are going to save more than €10 billion from revised targets," added Tsipras.

"It is our duty to grapple with the issue of a sustainable pension system – without paying the price of new cuts and based on new actuarial studies," the premier maintained.

He said that a reasonable agreement should include low budget surpluses, shifting the burden onto the rich, and debt restructuring. "Oligarchs have to pay," he said, and went vitriolic about the television channels.

The Prime Minister owned up to the fact that economic performance has not been restored to its August 2014 rates when the last tranche was made. "This is not our choice, what is happening is unacceptable ... Some believe that if the government retreated from its positions and accepted an agreement, which would repeat the mistakes of the past – that would be the proper negotiating tactics," said Tsipras. "These individuals undermine the common European vision. Their statements do not help the atmosphere of trust that is needed more than ever, "stressed the prime minister.

"We unreservedly respect the 20 of February agreement. We will not yield to unreasonable demands on the subject of VAT, employment or other measures ... IMF representatives have insisted on extremes just to avoid coming to terms with their own failures; their proposals are against development," concluded Tsipras.

"At the January 25^th elections, the Greek people bought a one-way ticket, and we will not drag it back, we want a mutually acceptable agreement."

Tsipras also specifically mentioned the Greek national broadcaster ERT and the delays in its recovery: he claimed everybody was responsible for them.

The premier blamed the previous government for the primary surpluses by saying they are nothing but "a numerical expression of the austerity policy." "Those wagging their fingers at the pension system are the same ones who ruined it," he said.

"The institutions are aghast in the face of Greek bankruptcy and Grexit", wrote in its editorial iskra.gr, allegedly a Left platform site. The material comments on the negotiations between Athens and its creditors. Several hours before the meeting of SYRIZA’s central committee, the Platform released a message to Tsipras "to disobey creditors’ orders."

"The Central Committee will ask the government to only enter an agreement, which corresponds to our programme", said Alternate Minister for Social Security Dimitris Stratoulis before Mega TV. Meanwhile, MP Yannis Michelogiannakis attacked the government on SKAI TV. Left platform-leaning Stathis Leutsakos told the same channel that "the prime minister cannot come up with such an agreement in parliament."