By Eleftherios Antonopoulos & Konstantinos Kostagiannis
International media described the Greek prime minister’s address to the parliament on Sunday as “defiant” (BBC and Reuters for example). Yet, what emerged from the speech was a mildly coherent attempt to bridge the internal policy preferences with the positions of European creditors. The speech lowered reform expectations while at the same time refrained from challenging fundamentally the structure of Greece’s model of capitalism. In light of this we examine how progressive Greek government priorities can be deemed and what their underlying political purpose is, especially ahead of Wednesday’s Eurogroup meeting.
An uneasy alliance? The SYRIZA – ANEL government agenda:
The newly elected Greek government is based on the alliance between left-wing SYRIZA and nationalist, europhobic ANEL. As such, the whole endeavor is founded upon maintaining the austerity – antiausterity dichotomy, which forms the only solid common ideological ground between the two. Some analysts believe this alliance is possible based on the populist characteristics of the two partners (quoting a possible link between SYRIZA and Laclau) while others hold mainstream forces to account for not preventing such outcomes.
Given the importance of opposition to austerity for both government partners as well as the dire economic situation of Greece in the past few years, it is of little surprise that this issue comprises most of the speech. The reading of the domestic results of the crisis is one of the few parts of the speech that concentrates on evidence: 1/4 of the GDP lost, 1.5 million unemployed, and the unsustainable levels of debt at 180% of GDP. In its discussion of EU rules, the speech adopts the mantra that “austerity is not a founding principle of the EU”, selectively interpreting Art. 120 and 126 TFEU. Besides, all hopes for creating domestic employment are directed to current EU interventions such as the Juncker package and other EU structural investments. Under this light, Greece’s fiscal adjustment program is viewed as lacking “output legitimacy” although this is of second order to its perceived lack of input legitimacy by the electorate.
Continue reading “The Greek Government’s programme: an act of defiance or a call for compromise?”