Daily Times

The soul of Greece has flown away, zipping past Mount Olympus, gone. The negotiating position of Greece à la Troika has gone from bad to worse to much worse, as suffocation of the body politic is well underway. The politicians of Greece have become pliable pawns in the hands of the all-powerful European Troika. It’s all about saving the Banks, saving the Creditors. The people, well, they don’t count for much “they’re nothing more than numbers,” maybe worse. Plastic bureaucrats see it that way. Zoe Konstantopoulou, a Greek lawyer and former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, recently (April) discussed the issues at Spanish website, tmex.es, explaining the complete loss of democracy and the governing body, a country subject to “dictates to oblivion.” Indeed, the irony of this sordid affaire takes one’s breath away, as Greece first introduced the world to “demokratia,” or “rule by the people” in 507 B.C., the seedbed of democracy. Nowadays, Greece is a protectorate, a subject state. According to Zoe K, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras betrayed the people by caving into the seductress of power instead of enforcing the welfare of his people by not negotiating state debt, even though he had evidence of illegality and unsustainability of Greece’s debt. If true as represented by Ms. Konstantopoulou, this is reprehensible at the very least. And, at best, it calls for a major modification of Troika memoranda in favor of the people, including some debt forgiveness, thereby not lopsidedly favoring only creditors and banks. “The Greek people have been living through hell during the last six years, and unfortunately they trusted that Tsipras would put an end to the extreme austerity measures, which are combined with a total undemocratic regime.

Unfortunately, instead of putting an end, he put his signature to a third memorandum, which is even worse than the previous two People are back on the streets protesting for their rights and dignity because right now they’re being asked to pay taxes which amount to almost the totality of their revenue. They’re asked to give up their homes. They’re asked to surrender public property, which is privatized at very, very low prices. And, they’re also asked to give up democracy” (Zoe K). Economic totalitarianism hits Greece with a thud. “Back in the summer we had what equals an act of war, a direct threat to the survival of the population. The banks were closed and the people were threatened with a humanitarian disaster if they rejected the measures, which were put on the table by the Creditors with a 48-hour ultimatum. Humanitarian disaster means the people would not be able to have food or medicine. This is an unacceptable situation for Europe the direct result of decisions by representatives of European institutions. My approach is that this is complete illegal criminal behavior.” (Zoe K).

Henceforward, the Greek parliament is a rubber stamp for the European Troika, voting on hundreds of pages of legislation in less than a day, forced to pass whatever creditors submit or be forced into bankruptcy, horrible choices alongside chewing nails. In the summer of 2015 the Greek parliament was instructed to abolish all laws that were passed without prior approval of creditors. Thereafter, parliament did approve laws once again, but only as “drafted by creditors.” Fascinatingly, these same laws were rejected by the citizens of Greece some months previously by a 62% No vote. Ergo, Greece should trash, throw out, annihilate voting machines and/or voting booths. They don’t count anymore! European institutions from afar, i.e., the European Commission in Brussels, without legitimate authority over the country are “asking governments to sacrifice the people, in order to save the markets, and save the banks” (Zoe K).