Antonis Samaras: "I will not give such consent"

"I will not give such consent", was the firm reply by the ND president, who added that "I will not agree to the memorandum policy, which has been proven wrong". Explaining his refusal, Samaras said: "Today, they are forcing the Greek people to make new sacrifices without any prospect, while society is seeking consent to change direction and not a summit agreement to remain trapped in the same dead end, which is something that isolates society.

Samaras insisted that the solution is the proposal he submitted at Zappeion 2: "Unless there is a creative shock by reducing taxes along with reducing governmental expenses and bold privatizations with growth data, the restart of the economy will not occur. The government does not dare to make a restart and is not thinking of renegotiation, and ia repeating the same mistake that goes beyond the strength of our economy and the people. We remain opposed, promoting the restart as the only way to get out of the crisis".

Samaras criticized the proposed measures of the government. "The government is burdening the economy with new taxes, thus paralyzing the last productive vitality of the country, bringing further depression and not lower deficits". He accused Papandreou of "insisting on the same failed formula in view of negotiations with the the Troika" and announces new tax raids on those who already paid and cannot stand it anymore.

He referred to the key points of his own policy: "Let me remind you that the key ingredient of our proposal for an economic restart is the reduction of tax rates especially when the market crunch is due to the policy of the fierce over-taxing of everything". He also expressed reservations even about the points of possible convergence with the mid-term plan developed by the government: "The only new element of the governmental policy is the privatizations, but in many cases they give the impression that they are leading to divestment without a developmental vision and with poor results in a broken-down stock market. We are in favor of privatizations, but we are opposed to hasty divestment and cash-flow panic measures".

Assessing the measures of the government so far, he said: "There are positive elements such as individual contracts for the utilisation of ports and airports, which we have been proposing since December 2009, as well as the apparent intention of Papandreou to utilise some suggestions from our Zappeion 2 proposal, such as those about illegal real estate and repatriation of capital or labor reserve. But a few rights within a big wrong do not present a solution". Finally, he argued that "nobody in the government gives any explanation as to why the recipe has failed thus far, and nobody takes responsibility for the wasted sacrifices".