The Vice President of Parliament Alexis Mitropoulos commented that early elections appear to be inevitable, following the Wednesday evening meeting between PM Tsipras and EC chief Juncker, where the creditors demanded the introduction of difficult measures.
Mr. Mitropoulos told SKAI that “we either continue with deadlocked negotiations, or we ask the people where we must go” and was quick to point that the question must not be “euro or drachma”, as that would be “a tragedy”.
Furthermore he argued that such a proposal will not be approved by SYRIZA’s Parliamentary Group and estimated that PM Tsipras will not propose it himself in Parliament. According to the Parliament VP, the extreme views of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and IMF director Christine Lagarde prevailed in the discussions.
SYRIZA and Left Platform support early elections
SYRIZA’s parliamentary spokesperson Nikos Filis also told Mega Channel that early elections will be inevitable, should the creditors present Greece with an ultimatum. Mr. Filis noted that “if we are pressured into signing an ultimatum, it is clear that we will not sign it and ask the people to express their opinion”. Earlier, he argued that the government must prioritize wages and pensions over loan payments.
Likewise, SYRIZA MP Rachel Makri appeared on ANT1, where she openly supported the proposal made by Yannis Milios, to delay payments towards the International Monetary Fund. Mrs. Makri stressed that “the people come first” and added that “if the extortion continues, there are other options” and that “the obligations we have towards the people are education, healthcare, pensions and wages”.
The Left Platform, SYRIZA’s ‘internal opposition’, issued a statement on iskra.gr, where it argued that the delays employed by the creditors aim to put the Greek economy in a chokehold. The article also disputes the intention of the creditors to actually reach an agreement with Greece.
