With his party falling toward oblivion, PASOK Socialist leader is continuing to defend his support of austerity measures but, in an interview with Sunday’s Kathimerini, refused to say whether he would change his mind and allow some of his members to join Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ government if there is a Cabinet reshuffling.
“The government is only three-and-a-half months old and everyone’s attention is focused on negotiations about the measures,” Venizelos said with reference to the forthcoming $17.45 billion spending cut and tax hike package backed by Samaras’ New Democracy and his coalition partners, PASOK, and the Democratic Left.
“PASOK serves as a guarantor for a greater strategy. Should this come off and pay off, then we will begin to feel vindicated,” he said. His backing of his rival Samaras has seen PASOK plummet to 5.5 percent in a new poll, moving toward the 3 percent threshold needed to gain seats in Parliament in elections. Speculation of a government shakeup has emerged after Samaras acknowledged that there were “problems” and “omissions” in the administration.
In the interviewi, Venizelos also tried to repair some of the political damage caused by his mishandling of a list of 1,991 Greeks with accounts in the Geneva, Switzerland branch of HSBC bank, and why, when he was finance minister in a previous government, he didn’t investigate for any evidence of tax evasion when he was doubling income and property taxes and taxing the poor while letting tax cheats escape.
“(The list) was in the hands of the responsible authorities who had a mandate to make use of the information, before I took over (as finance minister) and before I was even briefed on the issue,” he said. He defended PASOK’s record in clamping down on tax evasion, alleging that both he and the party were being “targeted” for political reasons.
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