Members of the hardline ‘Left Platform’ within SYRIZA made plain their opposition to the loan extension deal struck with Greece’s lenders by tabling an amendment critical of the agreement during a meeting of the party’s central committee.
The amendment is critical both of the extension agreement and the list of reforms to which Greece committed to implementing that was assembled during the Eurogroup meetings.
According to the SYRIZA officials opposed to the measures, the two texts represent an ‘undesirable compromise for out country and are far away, in a different direction or even opposed to SYRIZA’s policy statements.’
The opposition by the Left Platform to the agreement is no great surprise. The leader of SYRIZA’s Left Platform and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis has been critical of the deal and has made public statements at odds with those made by other ministers, most notably with regards to privatizations. While the government has committed to continuing privatizations that have been completed or are underway, Lafazanis has vowed to halt all privatizations in the energy sector.
What will be particularly concerning for Alexis Tsipras is that other SYRIZA members not of the Left Platform also supported the motion condemning the loan extension agreement. Specifically the amendment was defeated with 68 votes in favour, 92 against and 5 blank votes.
The amendment writes that the government, “despite the Eurogroup agreements must proceed on the basis of policies that will have the main priority the stable implementation of pre-election pledges and government policy statements.”
That however will be difficult without external funding given the dire state of the government’s finances and projections for revenue shortfalls.
However with the dissenting voices in his party also on the rise, sticking with the agreement tentatively struck with Greece’s European partners to secure additional funding may alos prove equally difficult for the prime minister.
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