Main focus of Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Greece poised for new elections

Polls say Tsipras could capture up to 25 percent of the vote. (© AP/dapd)

The formation of an expert government in Greece failed on Tuesday, prompting President Karolos Paoulias to call new elections for June. According to commentators, the elections will effectively be a referendum on whether Greece stays in the Eurozone unless Syriza boss and anti-austerity politician Alexis Tsipras finally decides to make some compromises.

Syriza must be honest with voters

According to the polls the left-wing alliance Syriza led by Alexis Tsipras could emerge as the strongest force from the elections. But Syriza's slogans are unrealistic and change nothing as regards the necessary course of consolidation, writes the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung: "When the left-wing tribune declares that Greece can discontinue its austerity efforts and still remain in the Eurozone because the West is just bluffing it makes a huge mistake. The room to negotiate is by no means as ample as Tsipras is trying to tell people it is. He must also realise that the country can't go forward without belt-tightening and painful structural reforms, whether it remains in the Eurozone or reverts to the drachma. This would be an honest message. But if the Greeks want to believe Tsipras' seductive slogans their decision must be respected." (16/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Greece
All available articles from » Cyrill Stieger

Compromise the only solution

With an eye to the new elections in June, Greece's politicians and the troika must be willing to make concessions, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung comments: "To that end the leftist alliance Syriza must also be prepared to take off its blinkers. The party acts as if the debt crisis didn't exist. ... Syriza rejects the 'austerity dictates', citing the popular will as its justification. But that is only half of the truth. 80 percent reject the austerity package, however as confused as the Greeks are at the moment, 80 percent also want to remain in the euro. Syriza claims both are possible. Reality will teach it otherwise. Until then, the party must change from a protest movement into a party capable of executing policies. ... Regardless of who is elected in June: the EU and IMF will have to accommodate Athens to a certain extent, otherwise this new government won't last long either. In the long run you can't govern against the majority of the people. Unless you're ready to put democracy on the line." (16/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Economic Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Kai Strittmatter

Like a referendum on staying in the Eurozone

The voters should see the new elections as a referendum on whether Greece should stay in the Eurozone, writes the conservative business paper Naftemporiki: "Only in this way can we prevent politicians from interpreting the results as they see fit. ... Both before and after the May 6 elections, everyone talked about the austerity package and not about the euro. And all the polls show that more than 80 percent of Greeks want to keep the euro. … Two years of harsh austerity, recession, Greek mistakes and European experiments weren't long enough to quell people's desire to stay in the Eurozone. … Because we know or suspect that without international creditors we won't receive any more money. And unfortunately we can't yet survive without loans." (16/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Elections, » Greece
All available articles from » Nikos Frantzis

New elections better than government of experts

The news that there will be no formation of a government of experts in Greece is a welcome development in the eyes of the socialist daily Duma: "The technocrats are never on the side of the man on the street because they are the guardians of big capital. Those responsible for the crisis are trying to conceal their guilt and avoid their responsibility by appointing these experts. ... The idea of putting technocrats in charge of politics is like putting the commander of a concentration camp in charge of a hospital. Thank God Europe still has healthy social and political instincts that have ensured that the Greeks opt for new elections instead of a cabinet of experts. … It's a good thing this is still possible today. In a different world shares in government would be traded on stock markets, stock traders would be political engineers and Goldman Sachs would be able to buy a stake even in the Vatican." (16/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Greece
All available articles from » Alexander Simov

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