Tsipras:"No government is entitled to implement the Memorandum"

The deadlock of the establishment of an ecumenical government with the participation of SYRIZA was confirmed in the meeting between Messrs. Evangelos Venizelos and Alexis Tsipras, as the SYRIZA president clarified that a “leftist alibi” to a government implementing of the Memorandum is not going to be given.

Mr. Tsipras asked political leaders to stop the tricks of “disengagement” and “relaxation”, while he clarified that “no one is entitled to implement the Memorandum” and called on his interlocutors to answer what the essential objective of the “ecumenical government” is.

In particular, he urged political leaders to answer whether “this government will insist on the removal of the Continuance and the cancellation of labor rights, the equalization of wages with those in Romania and Bulgaria, privatization of electricity, layoffs and salary reductions anew”.

In addition, Mr. Tsipras called on Fotis Kouvelis not to support a ND/PASOK government while he attacked the president of ND, reminding him that the leftist European parties are supporting the Greeks, something which the “European right-wing front of Merkel and Sarkozy” never did.

The SYRIZA president invited the PASOK and ND leaders to stop the wordplay since they have not deviated from the commitments in writing to the Troika, in “submissive” letters, as Mr. Tsipras stated.

He noted that PASOK, ND and DIMAR have been aligned into a single position.

After the wreck of the talks between Tsipras-Venizelos, the process of exploratory mandates was unsuccessfully finished. As announced, at 1pm on Saturday the president of PASOk will return the exploratory mandate to the President of the Republic.

According to article 37 of the Constitution, the next step is to convene a council of political leaders under the President. The meeting will be set for Sunday 13th or Monday 14th.

Furthermore, a response to the charges by the president of SYRIZA was given by people close to the PASOK president, since his executives underlined that the after-effect and changes in labor rights were included in the Memorandum because some people in Greece were pushing for it. The same people state that Mr. Tsipras is asking Mr. Venizelos for commitments in order to cancel out all the latter fought for with PM Lucas Papademos. Regarding the possibility of renegotiations, Mr. Venizelos told Mr. Tsipras that there must be a government formed first and the country must be governed to achieve renegotiations, since the Greek economy cannot wait any more.

During the meeting, Mr. Tsipras seems to have raised the issue of the electoral law. Mr. Venizelos replied that “We are in favor of changing the political system but there is not one day to spare concerning a financial gap”.

Close associates of Mr. Venizelos stressed, however, that the debate is not over and the attempt by the President of the Republic must be respected.

The announcement of the Democratic Left on Tsipras’ statements.

At the same time, DIMAR’s announcement on Tsipras’ statements is harsh, since it is underlined that “the stability of DIMAR’s positions is a given and timeless. If Mr. Tsipras wishes to worry about our party’s stability and its president, it is his own problem”.

“Communication tricks cannot justify the fact that SYRIZA threw away the possibility that a Leftist government could exist”.