The leader of the main opposition Antonis Samaras has dismissed the government’s decision to submit a proposal for an inquiry into the reasons that lead to the bailouts and austerity, arguing that it is a ploy to disorientate public opinion.
Mr. Samaras, who will be called upon to justify the actions he took as Prime Minister over the past two and a half years, insists that the goal is to divert attention from the government’s negotiations with the creditors, which the main opposition claims are not showing progress. Prominent New Democracy officers argue that the government is “in a panic” and wants to maintain a polemic atmosphere in Parliament to cover for its shortcomings.
At present there is no agreement on how New Democracy will approach the upcoming vote, but it is likely to approve the formation of the committee, since Mr. Samaras himself supported a similar inquiry four years ago and even included it in his election campaign proclamations of 2012.
New Democracy will aim to get the current Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to also answer questions, on account that the main opposition party expects him to sign a third bailout agreement. Party spokesman Kostas Karagounis argued that his party cannot be “touched” by any inquiry and argued that the procedure is politically motivated.
Nevertheless, the fact that the government’s proposal omits the Kostas Karamanlis administration from the inquiry is greatly debated amongst New Democracy officers. PASOK is expected to raise the issue, in order to investigate the period prior to 2009, to which New Democracy will have to defend Mr. Karamanlis’ administration.
SYRIZA had also submitted a similar proposal in November 2012, which was rejected by the coalition government parties New Democracy, PASOK and the Democratic Left. Despite being included among Mr. Samaras’ proclamations, the main argument time for the rejection was that the coalition’s cohesion should not be jeopardized by opening old wounds and that the coalition had to focus entirely on the implementation of reform measures.
At the time the coalition government claimed that SYRIZA’s ultimate goal was not to address the reasons that lead to the bailout, but rather to take advantage of the situation politically. The government at the time also insisted that Mr. Samaras’ commitment to launch an inquiry still stood and that all that remained was finding the “right time”. Eventually though, Mr. Samaras avoided an inquiry claiming that it was impossible since New Democracy was in a coalition with PASOK.
