The dispute with the Troika was a badly staged farce

“Developing state property is one thing but a clearance sale of silverware is quite another” says ND, continuing the fierce attack on the government due to the Troika press conference and everything that followed, also insisting on the resignation of Finance minister, Giorgos Papakonstantinou.

In a recent announcement, the position of Antonis Samaras on July 2010 is clearly mentioned: “…development does not mean «selling out». It does not mean we are selling off our silverware. It does not mean auctioning off monuments or spaces connected to our history or our national security. «To develop» means to give value to an asset that has so far remaines inactive or is depreciated… and without the state losing ownership of its real estate…”

ND insists on not talking about loss of state ownership by the state, which has been put forth by the Troika, but about development through long term leases of real estate that has remained under-utilised so far. They also note that there must be an account must be made of the development of state property before any discussion can begin on the large SOEs.
 
They insist that the Troika announcements did not surprise the government, and that minister Papakonstantinou had decided everything with the auditors in advance, stressing that the minister had spoken of a state property sellout in his speech in New York several months ago. Also, these forecasts are included in the updated memorandum and they are citing a Papakonstantinou non-paper in which the 50bil euros are mentioned.

They conclude that the minister handled the matter without informing society, the parliament or even part of the government. So they say everything that followed the Troika announcements was a badly organized farce that makes the resignation of Papakonstantinou imperative. The possibility for a censure motion against the Finance minister or against the government in its totality at the right moment has been left open.