PM calls for 'collective, democratic' processes within SYRIZA

July 28, 2015
Written by E.Tsiliopoulos

Addressing SYRIZA's Political Secretariat, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday called for the launch "collective, democratic processes" to regroup and resolve the major strategic differences that had splintered the party's Parliamentary group, stressing the need for a party conference as soon as possible.

The difficult outcome after six months of arduous negotiations had revealed differences in strategic orientation between the majority of the Parliamentary group, which approved the basic direction of government policy, and the minority expressing a different view, he pointed out.

"The issue is real. Our strategy must be clarified with calmness and maturity, through coordinated procedures that involve the sum of party forces. For this reason, a conference process must be mobilised as soon as possible, as foreseen by the party's charter. It is our shared obligation to protect the party's unity," Tsipras said.

"With the decision of the Euro Summit, a six-month cycle of political initiative came to a close. This cycle must be evaluated in detail. The results achieved by the government - a low-interest loan of 85 billion euros for three years, a commitment for debt relief, a reduction of future primary surpluses, a 35-billion-euro growth package - must be openly discussed. Along with a discussion on the mistakes we made," the prime minister said.

He noted that answers must be given concerning the government's course, including whether it had done everything possible or whether there were actions it had omitted or avoided, and whether all issues had been handled in the right way.

"Was there some realistic and sustainable alternative plan that was not adopted? What could such an alternative, sustainable solution be today? ...Should [the Left] leave the government to the representatives of a bankrupt political system or wage the battle in the conditions as these have now arisen," Tsipras asked.

The Greek prime minister pointed out that a process of major political fermentation had now begun in Europe, largely as a result of the negotiations on Greece, and questions were being asked about the way that the eurozone functioned. A leftist Greek government had an obligation to create alliances and fight this battle on an institutional and political level, he added.

The need to reduce Greece's debt burden was now openly admitted, Tsipras said, and a government of the left was obliged to exhaust all margins for a sustainable solution on this issue.

"It is important that there is a government to negotiate on behalf of the people and society, not a government planning in cahoots with the lenders, as the previous ones did," Tsipras said.

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