Papoulias: The danger is real

Pointing out the imminent danger for the collapse of the Greek banking system in order to highlight the urgent need for an immediate government in the country, President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias described the dramatic situation of the country to the three political leaders, Antonis Samaras, Evangelos Venizelos and Alexis Tsipras.

As revealed by the minutes of the critical meeting held at noon on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace, Karolos Papoulias seems to have had a full and detailed briefing by prime minister Lucas Papademos, Finance minister Philippos Sachinidis and director of the Bank of Greece George Provopoulos, who all suggested that "the extension of political instability will lead to fatal consequences."

Again in accordance to the minutes, Papoulias made a dramatic appeal to the political leaders, saying that "fully aware of the situation, I am telling you that the danger is real. We have already lost valuable time and the absence of government is a serious risk to the financial security of the Greek people and our national existence."

Papoulias said "I have been informed by the prime minister, the director of the Bank of Greece and the minister of Finance about the country's cash flow position and the risk of collapse of the banking system if withdrawals of deposits from banks continue due to the insecurity of the citizens generated by the political situation."

The President added he is "extremely worried" also after the contacts with EU president Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz about the "view of European economic data, and explained "that we have a duty to agree." His words are indicative: "I spoke by phone with Rompuy, who is worried and voices the concern that exists in Europe as to where this ungoverned Greece is headed. The differences in your stances are small and insignificant compared to the duty towards our country. I think the positions of the three parties are compatible and so we have the requirements for governmental cooperation between them at least, and perhaps with some of the others. In addition, after the Greek elections and the victory of Hollande in France, a new climate is forming in Europe and it will be a shame if we do not take advantage of it."

Antonia Samaras: We all need to compromise

Antonis Samaras stressed the need for a government at all costs. «Each of us should engage in some compromise. Something must be done to achieve what is to me the clear message of the Greek people, that is to work together as one government." The ND president stressed that he wants the participation or the tolerance of SYRIZA "with the following logic: I call for a strong lengthy commitment, Mr President. Otherwise we will enter a permanent electoral psychology with the risks this entails for deposits, as correctly described by the prime minister, with a temporariness  which has never helped Greece’s effectiveness in terms of public administration. We must have a policy change with renegotiation, but always including the country’s stay in the euro. As leader of the first party I am prepared to make the maximum possible concession, just to show that we first do what is required to achieve such an agreement. If we cannot all agree, we should give our tolerance vote to others to create their own government, always on condition of staying in the euro. If this is impossible, we said it would be possible to form a coalition between ND, SYRIZA, PASOK and the Democratic Left, or even with Kammenos if he wanted, with our own tolerance. Or have a coalition between ND, PASOK and the Democratic Left with the tolerance vote of SYRIZA."

He explained that in order for the State to "obey" to a government that needs to make strong and tough decisions, it would at least need a minimum amount of time until the European elections.

Alexis Tsipras: Elections are not a national disaster

Alexis Tsipras said that new elections would not bring about a "national disaster", explaining that if "it is not possible to reach a government formation, we believe that the judgment of the people and their verdict is not a national disaster." The dialogue that followed with Papoulias is illustrative:

KAROLOS PAPOULIAS (President of  the Republic): Then you are in favor of elections?

ALEXIS TSIPRAS (SYRIZA president): No Mr President, Do not distort what I say. I say that the judgment of the people and their verdict is not a national disaster.

PAPOULIAS: Excuse me, let me phrase it like I understood it. So we can move to general elections?

TSIPRAS: As I told you, if you find that there is no possibility of forming a government, I think I was clear in what I said earlier, I believe that the judgment of the people and their verdict do not imply a disaster. Manoeuvres carry such risks.

Further clarifying his positions, he explained that although the prime minister in his note more or less hints at the collapse of the banking system, this was not discovered on May 7. "73.5 billion euros have already left the banking system, and the people's judgment is not to be blamed."

He reminded Samaras that he was the one who talked about new elections:

TSIPRAS: The ND president himself had clearly said that if he couldn’t achieve political self reliance, he would seek it in re-elections. Weren’t these problems known when you were putting this perfectly respectable position to the judgment of the Greek people?

ANTONIS SAMARAS (New Democracy president): But now we have a different situation.

TSIPRAS: Of course, but this new situation has not changed the flow or the figures of the Greek economy.

Tsipras also insisted that "on the basis of our programmatic commitments tabled to the Greek people before the elections and the great need to ensure a sustainable future, we believe that such a future will not be secured by the continuation of the program of internal devaluation. We always believed there is room for negotiations on a political level, where our country is an equal member…"

PAPOULIAS: With Europe.

TSIPRAS: …room that we did not exploit. We were justified and will continue on this course.

Evangelos Venizelos: SYRIZA participation is a prerequisite for social and political breadth of support

Venizelos has highlighted the need of SYRIZA participation in a potential government formation. "It is raised as a prerequisite for breadth of support, effectiveness and legitimacy. The issue is not to highlight SYRIZA as the opposition but to make it a participant in a nationwide effort based on the level of its responsibility and the mandate it received from the Greek people." The PASOK president reiterated the pre-election positions of PASOK on collaborations and those formed after the election results, indicating that everything stumbles against SYRIZA’s refusal to participate.

In response to Tsipras’ objection concerning ther parliamentary capacity to form a government with PASOK, ND and the Democratic Left, he said "the 168 MPs do not mean anything. It is a parliamentary amount without sufficient legitimacy in our opinion, in the sense that the size of the new parties must be reflected in the management responsibility of the country when we have a change of correlations. When the election and the parliamentary size of a party grows, it is followed by the growth of its proportion of national responsibility for managing the crisis. There is no proposal on a table of three political parties and us calling for a fourth. The involvement of the fourth is a condition for such a government, as indeed there are few common denominators which emerge through the positions of the parties."

In response to Tsipras’ argument that elections are not a disaster, he said that "obviously elections are not a disaster. But non-governance, the lack of clear guidance, the country's inability to make decisions, all create a liability of chance, as we say in the law sector. Who has the responsibility of chances? Who is responsible if something happens to the country? Do we have time to waste? I think not. I understand that SYRIZA has a dynamic, looking at the favorable polls, and this may be a temptation for repeating the elections. I think it is an old- concept behavior that is not consistent with the current situation, and especially its magnitude.