The maturity of Mr. Tsipras was truly violent. He himself harbored delusions. He believed that SYRIZA’s electoral win would cause a schism in the conservative Europe of Merkel and Schauble, that it would change the political correlations and allow him to soften the austerity policies.
Today, after the six-month adventure of clashing with the dominant forces in Europe, he admits that he made mistakes, that he overestimated the capabilities of negotiating politically, while underestimating the technical aspect of the negotiations, as well as the operation and rules of the European Union.
At the same time he did not take into consideration that his politics allowed his inter-party opponents, who had be preparing for a clash with him for some time, to open their stride and make demands that exceeded the limits of the Constitution.
To Vima reveals today that before the European Summit, Mr. Lafazanis and the Left Platform got to the point where they asked the Prime Minister to accept Schauble’s proposal for an orderly exit from the euro, foolishly believing that Greece would then get rid of the austerity and bailouts.
Mr. Tsipras found himself between a rock and a hard place, between the dominant in conservative Europe and his inter-party anti-bailout orthodoxy, from which he could not escape unscathed.
He could not accept Lafazanis’ proposal because he did not have such a mandate, nor could he adopt the raid to seize power that was required for a return to a national currency. He would be violating the Constitution, the very democratic principles on which he was sworn in.
He therefore chose the hard European solution, while also assuming the huge cost. He is now giving a battle for domination in his party – which he seems to be winning – and is also struggling to heal the wounds inflicted on the economy in the past six months.
As it would seem he will do anything for an agreement by the 18th of August, he will will accept everything agreed with Europe, whether he likes it or not. Of course he will also have to create the necessary conditions for the proper implementation of everything described in the new bailout with the heads of the four institutions.
At present nothing guarantees the normalization of the financial circumstances, nor of course the elimination of the so-called political risk. A lot depends on the stance of the Prime Minister, from his determination, patience and ultimately his maturity as a political leader, who is fully assuming his responsibilities and is prepared to sacrifice himself without a second though, for the country and its people.
Antonis Karakousis
Originally published in the Sunday print edition
