It is in an atmosphere of doom, when fires ravaged Attica region, releasing thick smoke, Alexis Tsipras, Greek Prime Minister and party leader of the radical left, sliced the quick. The day before, against the members of his party, Syriza, the head of the Greek government had a tantrum that announced the cabinet reshuffle on Friday 17 July: “I will not allow anyone, after the past six months [tough negotiations with the European creditors] I spent, to pretend that his dilemma of conscience is heavier than mine. ”
The head of the Greek government, elected on a promise to end austerity, was then asked to approve in parliament austerity measures of the European bailout plan that he said disapprove itself. The moral dilemma of Alexis Tsipras was: accept the “diktat” of creditors or leave the euro. But Syriza 39 MPs (out of 149) did not follow their prime minister. They defected, forcing Alexis Tsipras to rely on the moderate opposition to move the text.
Tsipras takes over
These rebels, ministers and deputy ministers. It is they who bear the brunt of Friday’s reshuffle. Leader of the “left platform”, the radical Syriza trend that opposed the agreement in the party, who preferred an exit from the single European currency to the agreement, the Minister of Energy and Panagiotis Lafazanis infrastructure, is the most symbolic and important victims. The Deputy Minister for Finance Valavanis Nadia, who had resigned, the Minister for Labour, Dimitris Stratoulis and the Minister of Defense Costas Isychos have also borne the brunt of this takeover.
Alexis Tsirpras announced maintaining his position, as a token of good will, the Minister of Finance, Euclid Tsakalotos, appreciated creditors as much as its predecessor, the baroque Yanis Varoufakis was hated. Alexis Tsipras made a discreet but significant innovation. He created a Secretariat of State for Tax Revenue, told Tryfon Alexiadis, President of the Union of tax officials. This is a way to mark the wish to place a real expert to solve the huge problem of collection of taxes, one of the causes of the fiscal deficit and debt, so the Greek crisis. To date, less than 55% of Greek taxpayers would have fulfilled their tax return, more than two months after the deadline …
A minority government
Having resoldered his government, Alexis Tsipras seems to temporize with the founders and members of the Syriza party in turmoil. It seems now to limit the damage to lance the boil. So he would not have intended to ask the rebels parliamentarians to resign, merely a minority government, supported by the opposition and some parliamentarians from Syriza.
As for the party itself, which has mainly switched to the camp of the slingers, the far-left coalition seems reluctant to initiate hostilities against Alexis Tsipras, who despite everything remains the most popular politician in Greece. “It would even be elected against his party,” quips one observer. Alexis Tsipras seems to have decided to hold in this unstable position until autumn, after fully adopt the bailout. But if the rebellion swells, if the defections are growing, it could be forced to appeal to the polls much earlier.
Jean-Baptiste Naudet Pavel Kapantais in Athens
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