Version imprimable1. The discussion in Parliament on the agreement has started and the vote is expected for late this evening. Tsipras has declared in his interview to the public broadcast yesterday that the agreement was bad, that he "didn’t believe in it" but, basically that there was no other solution. He also said that he was not going to jump out of the boat.
2. A strike against the agreement was announced today by the confederation of civil servants ADEDY. This is the first test on the social front. The participation in the strike seems rather low but the real peak is this evening’s gathering in front of the Parliament, when the vote will happen.
The majority of Syriza’s Central Committee rejects accord
3. An impressive wave of statements are issued by Syriza’s local and regional branches rejecting the agreement and calling the leadership to withdraw it even at the last moment. These statements are voted by overwhelming majorities and usually near-unanimously. A text rejecting the agreement has already been signed by an absolute majority of central committe members (see next post). In the last meeting of the political secretariat of the party only a small minority were in favour of the agreement and for supporting the government. Euclid Tsakalotos who reported on the agreement said that it wasn’t politically sustainable. The secretary of the party, Tassos Koronakis, supported by others, asked for the government to resign and a "special task" government to be constituted as a transition to snap elections in November, at the time of elections in Spain. The Left Platform disagreed with this proposal explaining that this would mean that Syriza MPs would condone a for months technocratic cabinet applying austerity and called the government to withdraw the agreement immediately.
4. The Left Platform annnounced that it will not vote the agreement today. In an internal meeting, impressively attented yesterday and widely reported by the media (journalists came en masse although it was made clear that they were not welcome...), Panagiotis Lafazanis categorically rejected the agreement, explained that Grexit was the only solution and that the government should prepare it. The LP will hold a public meeting next Monday in Athens to present its alternative proposal and called for the Grexit. The trade-union sector of the party, overwhelmingly controlled by the LP, is playing a leading role in organizing protests againts the agreement.
Athens, July 15, 2 pm.
