On June 17 we say: THERE IS NO RETURN TO THEIR PLANS

via REinFORM

The Greek elections on May 6 delivered a clear message: NO MORE AUSTERITY. No political party or coalition has any legitimacy to continue the austerity policies either inside or outside the Eurozone. Regardless the result of the coming elections we will continue to take the streets and struggle against the neoliberal policies in Greece and all over Europe. The victory of the people in Greece will be a victory for all people in Europe. The defeat of the Troika, the release from the debt and the toppling of the corrupt political system in Greece is the first step for the struggle for a just society in Europe.

On May 6, the people gave a decisive blow to the former ruling parties that conceded the austerity policies and brought the state’s economy to its knees. Since the May elections the propaganda of the mainstream media and statements of officials are trying to force the people in Greece to accept the policies of the Troika and the previous government. The media promote gloomy scenarios together with an image of Greece regressing back to the Stone Age in case the austerity policies come to a halt. On top of it, a patronized left-wing / right-wing division is imposed on the Greek society. EU-officials ignore the message of the Greek elections and keep interfering with domestic politics by expressing their expectation from the new government to stick to the commitments of the previous administration. The IM director C. Lagarde, the German Chancellor A. Merkel and the German minister of Finance W. Schäuble accuse openly the people in Greece for the disaster to come in case they decide to turn their back to their policies. Their propaganda aims at persuading the Greeks to give the majority-vote to the pro-austerity parties.

The EU and the IMF expect from the new government to apply budget cuts up to 1.5% of GDP within 2012 and 3.8% until 2015. According to the Revised Adjustment Program of March 2012 this goal will be achieved by the redundancy of 150.000 civil servants, a further decrease in salaries and pensions below 600€ and 400€ respectively, and the complete abolishment of employment protection and social-security benefits. These measures will be applied on top of the 25% loss of average income, the 100.000 companies that have closed down, an unemployment rate that has reached 21%, and the rapidly increasing rates of homelessness and suicides.

IT IS TIME TO ACT

The real dilemma in the coming elections is not IN or OUT of the Eurozone. The real dilemma is how we want to live, how we want to organize the society, how we vision our future in Greece and in Europe. Although we do not rest our hopes on governments, we do believe that the elections of June 17th is an important step to bring social and political change. The toppling of the political status quo and nepotism that has been established for decades by the ruling parties in Greece is absolutely necessary.

We call people to vote against the parties that are responsible for the current situation in Greece. PASOK and ND along with the ultra right-wing neoliberal politicians from LAOS ruled the country the last three decades and are those who applied the austerity policies of the last two years. Even though these policies clearly failed and led people to despair, they aim at pursuing them further. The same applies to the new party Drasi-Dimiourgia Ksana, which appears to be a promising choice for Greek people but in reality embodies the same neoliberal imperatives.We also call for voting against the parties that despite their anti-Memoranda rhetoric, are ready to assist the Greek elite, the EU and the IMF (DIM.AR., Kammenos). These parties were proven to be double-faced in the government formation attempts that followed the elections of May. Finally, we call people to give a decisive NO against the fascist party Golden Dawn (Xrisi Avgi) and their criminal practice of attacking violently immigrants and other social minorities.

Without resting our hopes on parties or individual saviors, we call the Greeks living in the Netherlands to vote for the Left demanding from it the denouncement of the Memoranda, the immediate cease of debt payments and the cancellation of austerity measures without any negotiation with the Troika. These are the minimum requirements to set a new course that will get people out of the crisis. To apply these measures a confrontation with the Troika and other economic and political elites is required. The role of social movements in this conflict is essential. In order for real democracy to prevail, any commitments to the elites and any negotiations with the Troika must be challenged by the people.

The message to the Greek puppet-politicians should be the following; THEIR AGREEMENTS ARE NOT LEGITIMATE. The message to the EU and the IMF that we won’t pay their crisis must be clear. While being conscious that change will not be achieved only through the elections, we call the Greeks living in the Netherlands to vote against the corrupted political system and the austerity policies imposed by the EU and IMF.