Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou had successive meetings with opposition leaders in his office on Tuesday, in an effort to gain their support for the new economic measures, but the outcome was far from desirable, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Papandreou was also hoping his rivals would back him in negotiations in the European Union’s summit later this week on the extension of Greece’s loan repayment period. Summit’s agenda also includes the proposed participation of private investors in the rescue mechanism.
The prime minister is opposed to the proposal, fearing that it would increase the government’s borrowing costs, even though it would only apply to bailouts after 2013.
Greek government has had a hard time trying to address the country’s deficit, as its new measurements are treated with suspicion and even hostility by workers’ unions.
Opposition party New Democracy voted against the bailout in May, arguing it would lead to a spiral of deepening recessions and was missing a growth component. In return for the money, the government promised unprecedented austerity measures and deep structural reforms.
“The government is asking for complicity in its misdirected economic policy and not simply consensus,” said Antonis Samaras, leader of opposition party New Democracy. He did not rule out, however, support for “some articles or parts of future bills”, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
“New Democracy will support an extension of repayments on the EUR110 billion loans, so long as there are no additional measures imposed,” he said. Likewise, New Democracy is opposed to private investors sharing the burden in future bailouts of euro-zone countries.
Other opposition party leaders were even less disposed to providing political support to the government’s legislative agenda.
“The real war starts now because voters understand there are no real economic policy mix alternatives and workers need to mobilize and resist the imposition of a labour relations dark age,” said KKE leader Aleka Papariga, according to the news agency.
The communist party ruled out support for a bill being debated in Parliament on Tuesday that would reduce job security and restructure state-owned firms, including through wage cuts.
“We cannot accept a further slashing of pensions and wages. We will not act as undertakers that will bury Greek society”, said Nationalist Laos party leader Giorgos Karatzaferis, despite the fact that the party voted for the bailout.
Left-wing party Syriza leader, Alexis Tsipras, declined the invitation to meet with the Prime Minister as there was “no room for consensus on policies that attacked workers”.
The International Monetary Fund and the European Union have repeatedly expressed disappointment that the reform program has not received broader political support.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
