Samaras: What should I do? Push the country over the edge?

During his speech in the House, ND president Antonis Samaras demanded that an election date be fixed for early April, just after the PSI completion , while he warned that he will not tolerate petty games.

He insisted on the issue of party discipline, warning that those who do not vote for the second memorandum will remain outside the party. He said: “I asked for party discipline, not because I want to break us up but in the case that some insist that our ways should part because I am concerned with the way the country is going”. Mr. Samaras mentioned the dangers of voting against the agreement, stating: “We will witness empty stores and shelves, we must gain time to change today’s policies in order to actually exist as a society and as an economy”.

Explaining his shifting attitude, Mr. Samaras stated that he has not changed his view of the memorandum: “ND’s position on the memorandum has not changed by the data of the economy, whle the sustainability of the debt has; two years ago it was sustainable”.

He attacked PASOK by saying that some have the gall to demand that we join them in their positions. He continued by saying “what we are voting on today contains the wrong recipe, but also contains the debt cut by at least 85bn and saves deposits, without which there could be no economy. What I am interested in is not to save the banks but the peoples’ deposits therein, and have liquidity for the real economy”.

He concluded by saying that “we are trying for Greece to exit the frame of the crisis and avoid uncontrolled default, get out of the recession and move into a phase of growth”. He stated that there is a danger than when Europe develops policies to address the widespread economic crisis, Greece might be outside it and not benefit.