The Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) said initial results from Sunday’s election showed it would take 80 of 550 seats, a stunning result for a party that pollsters had said would struggle to cross the required 10% threshold.

It also marks a major setback for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had hoped for a crushing victory for the AK party he founded, allowing it to change the constitution and give him broad executive powers.

Erdogan had repeatedly lashed out at the HDP and its charismatic leader Selahattin Demirtaş before the elections.

“This result shows that this country has had enough. Enough of Erdoğan and his anger,” said Seyran Demir, a 47-year-old housewife who was among the thousands who gathered in the streets around the HDP’s provincial headquarters. “I am so full of joy that I can’t speak properly.”

The crowds brought traffic to a standstill in parts of the city. Elsewhere, people drove through sidestreets hanging out of car windows and waving HDP flags. Men fired pistols into the air, a traditional sign of celebration.

Just two days earlier, bombs tore through a HDP rally in Diyarbakir, killing two and wounding at least 200.

The HDP had looked to reach beyond Turkey’s roughly 20% Kurdish population, attempting to woo centre-left and secular voters disillusioned with Erdoğan.

“The reason the HDP has won this many votes is because it has not excluded any members of this country, unlike our current rulers,” said 25-year-old Siar Senci. “It has embraced all languages, all ethnicities and members of all faiths and promised them freedom.”

The HDP’s entrance into parliament as a party – previously candidates ran as independents to skirt the 10% threshold – could also herald a step forward for the Kurdish peace process.

Ankara launched peace talks with the militant Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) two years ago. The PKK took up arms in 1984 in an insurgency for greater autonomy that has killed 40,000 people.

“We have waited for this day for years. During those dark times, I wondered if I could see Turks and Kurds living in solidarity in my own lifetime. Thank God it happened,” said 63-year-old Ersin Ates.

“Now we don’t want another single bullet to be shot. Our fight will continue in the parliament.”

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/joy-as-turkish-election-result-puts-pro-kurdish-party-into-parliament

In a historic day for the left, the anti-austerity Syriza won the ballot by a margin of nearly four points over the conservative New Democracy party led by prime minister Antonis Samaras. Addressing supporters as the results rolled in, Alexis Tsipras, Syriza’s leader, called for general elections to be held immediately, saying the outcome robbed the government of any “political or moral legitimacy” to continue enforcing policies that were overwhelming rejected.

As the country on the frontline of Europe‘s debt crisis, Greece has been forced to adopt excruciating reforms and spending cuts in return for rescue packages sponsored by the EU and International Monetary Fund.

“Tomorrow all of Europe will be talking about Syriza,” said the 39-year-oldTsipras, also the European Left’s candidate for commission president. “Already the peoples of Europe are celebrating the defeat of the memorandum [the accord outlining Athens' two bailout agreements] in the country chosen as a guinea pig by the European leadership.”.

But with nearly half of the vote counted and 26.4% compared with the two-party coalition’s combined 30.2 %, Samaras insisted that the result had not been the endorsement Syriza had been looking for to overturn the government.

Instead, with about 9.37% of the vote it was the far-right Golden Dawn’s showing that is likely to shake the Greek political establishment most.

Following up on their strong performance in local elections last week, the extremists were catapulted into third place in the country’s political constellation, behind Syriza and New Democracy.

Although stridently anti-EU and anti-bailout – sentiments that speak increasingly to the heart and minds of a nation felled by the debt crisis – Golden Dawn is also the most vicious far-right party on the continent of Europe with a third of its leadership in prison on charges of running a criminal organisation.

In a first for any political force, the extremists who have recently gone out of their way to soften their image but are the focus of a government-ordered judicial investigation, have been accused of murder, racial violence, illegal weapons possession and extortion.

In a message delivered from his Athenian prison cell, Golden Dawn’s leader Nikos Michaloliakos told supporters: “I congratulate you for managing to resist the government’s terrorism and for not believing their lies. We are the only political power that actually stands up against our state being run by foreign powers …

“Golden Dawn is now the third force in the political life of the country. New Democracy paid the price for their policies against our people … and Syriza has failed to express the public anger. Our slogan was the thieves should be in prison and the money they embezzled returned to the people but the thieves managed to put us in jail,” he railed. “They tried to dig a grave for us but they fell in it themselves.”

In its bid to gain international acceptability, Golden Dawn has recently made overtures to other far-right parties in the EU. Its spokesman and candidate for Athens mayor, Ilias Kasidiaris, last week described France’s Marine Le Pen as a “visionary.” Le Pen’s Front National has repeatedly rejected calls for cooperation from Golden Dawn whose symbol resembles the Swastika and whose leaders have publicly applauded Adolf Hitler.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/26/syriza-european-elections-greece

by Francesco Raparelli

http://www.dinamopress.it/news/italy-from-crisis-to-crisis

The scenario is very uncertain, yet it is worth to try and guess some developments. Uncertain, because the financial markets attack on Italian bonds has not fully unfolded yet. Within hours, we will hear how dramatically our yield spread over Germany has widened. But there is one thing we can be sure of: the markets stand for Monti – and if not for him, for continuity with his policies. Same desire, same hooliganism, from the ECB and the IMF. At its World Policy Conference in Cannes, the IMF wondered how come Italy had not yet requested Europe’s financial assistance, negotiating and signing that agreement that would place Italian governments under external control for the next 10 years.

Monti knows he’s desired by many, especially amongst those who count. That’s why, as soon as he got back from Cannes, he offered his resignation and declared himself “free” to play his own game. If, as it seems, he’ll be the new leader of the centre, the road will be clear for a coalition of progressives and moderates. If this won’t happen, given the situation and with the old tycoon just round the corner, it will not be impossible for the Democratic Party (PD) and the Christian Democrats (UDC) to reach an agreement before the elections even take place.

However it goes, the PD leader Bersani will likely become prime minister, in a scenario resembling the 2005-2009 Grosse Koalition in Germany and Papademos government in Greece. It comes as non surprise that – in his latest book written with Mep Sylvie Goulard on (!) democracy in Europe – Monti praises the grand coalition political model as the ideal for current times. The only model that can ensure the superiority of technocracy over politics, and deliver structural (neoliberal) reforms thanks to the neo-corporatist docility of trade unions. In the very likely case of Bersani as Prime Minister, Monti will be Super-Minister of the Economy. The Italian paradox will also see, amongst the left-outs, the neo-populists of Grillo side by side with Mr B and the Northern League.

It’s from the Italian paradox that we have to start, if we are to understand the relation between the national and European mobilisations of the autumn and the collapse of the Italian government. Up until September, Monti seemed undefeatable. The only blatantly neoliberal European leader deeply loved by the left. The only one who could destroy public pensions, national collective bargaining, health care, schools, and precarious and young people in general, without Italian’s major trade union, the CGIL, blinking an eye. It took the ETUC and the proclamation of general strikes in Spain, Portugal and Greece, for the CGIL to at last call a 4 hours-only strike. A strike, on 14n, then generalised and strengthened by the students and youth movements virtually alone.

In that sense, 14n opened a crack that initiated a new phase. Italians no longer seem to fancy the technocrats. The youth in the streets is being joined by metalworkers (national strike 6 Dec.) , healthcare workers (national strike 11 Dec.) and many others.But of course the neoliberal management of the sovereign debt crisis requires the full involvement of progressive forces and of the CGIL at government level. The confederation is desperate to put its hands on the Labour Ministry, while the progressives are boldly eager to play the ‘responsible guys’ as usual. And ‘leftist’ Vendola (SEL) might hope to conquer some low-budget Ministry for himself. Amen.

It is in such a context that the constituent and European challenge becomes more ambitious and needed for movements. We will have to be smart, if we don’t want the Italian winter to turn into a freezing electoral vortex. We need to relaunch the political initiative at continental level (in mid-march in Brussels and everywhere in Europe), enhance the accumulation of recent youth rebellions and prepare new ones. The relationship between revolts and autonomous institutions cannot but be immanent and recursive at the same time. The karst nature of movements should not be seen as a barrier, but as an opportunity to locally root the conflicts (the wave of occupations on #6D in Rome is one example), while extending social and political relations beyond national borders.

From cities to Europe and return, that’s the ‘permanent transition’ we should go for. Knowing that the bosses will hit us hard and in many cases – as seen on 14N in Rome – very violently. And knowing that the European and world crisis will get deeper and deeper, and the savagery of original accumulation can only be opposed by a rebellion of constituent nature.

Roma, Sunday 10-12-2012

On the 11th December healthcare strike and the occupation of CTO Hospital in Rome (IT only):

http://www.dinamopress.it/news/dalla-difesa-allattacco-le-battaglie-sulla-sanita
On the 6th December metalworkers and students strike and the occupation of vacant homes by the housing movement (IT only):

http://www.dinamopress.it/news/6d-lets-strike-lets-unite

For a few months, it genuinely looked like the first left-wing government in over forty years would succeed the most right-wing government the Netherlands has had since the Second World War. The Socialist Party was historically high in the polls; expected to reach up to 20 per cent of total votes, and many left-leaning voters were said to be willing to strategically vote for the Socialist Party just to make sure that we could counter the neoliberal austerity policies implemented by the Rutte government.

The euphoria lasted until the campaigns officially started. Roemer, the leader of the Socialist Party, didn’t seem to be the dream candidate many of us had hoped for. He was unable to hold the floor, even though what he was saying was obviously right most of the time and people would consider him to be the most honest politician of all. Samsom, the leader of the Social Democrats (PvdA) did much better, coming across as a strong and charismatic debater who had no problems countering Rutte, especially with Roemer being much weaker and softer.

In the run up to the elections there was a clear scare-campaign being conducted by the biggest Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, as well as VNO-NCW, the biggest employers’ organisation in the Netherlands. Their chairman, Wientjes, called the Socialist Party a disaster for the economy and employment, and stated that they have destroyed the so-called ‘poldermodel’. On 28 August, De Telegraaf headlined in the days leading up to the elections: ‘SOCIALIST PARTY COSTS JOBS’, on 29 August ‘ROEMER LIES’, and ‘THE LEFT KILLS SME’S’ on 11 September.

In the end it seemed like left-leaning voters played it safe and voted for Samsom. The Social Democrats gained 10 seats and is now at 39, and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) also gained 10 seats putting them at an historic 41 seats in parliament. This means that the most likely outcome will be a coalition between the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Social Democrats. On the other hand, the Socialist Party stayed at 15 seats and for the first time since entering the political arena, the Party For Freedom (a right-wing political party) lost seats, going from 24 to 15.

This outcome has led many to conclude that ‘the centre’ is back. But what they seem to forget is that the Social Democrats won with a clear left-wing message, with strong leanings toward the Socialist Party. At the same time, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy has adopted much of the language and ideas from the Party for Freedom.

The rise of populist right-wing parties in the Netherlands (first Pim Fortuyn and after that Wilders and his Freedom Party), like in other European countries, has partly been the effect of the ‘Purple’ cabinets from 1994 to 2002; which led people to believe that there really was no choice: voting for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy or the Social Democrats (the main parties in the purple coalition) would result in the same neoliberal policies. Now that both of them have been elected with clearly opposite messages and will have to form a coalition together, it seems like we’re going back to the nineties. The outcome of this ‘red neoliberalism’ will go one of two ways: a growing Socialist Party or a revival of right-wing extremism.

Source: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/the-dutch-elections-from-euphoria-to-red-neoliberalism?preview=true

By MATTHEW DALTON

BOXMEER, the Netherlands—Emile Roemer is the smiling face of an electoral force that is upending Dutch politics and threatening to challenge Europe’s German-led austerity strategy for solving the euro-zone crisis. Mr. Roemer, a former elementary-school teacher, is head of the Dutch Socialist Party, a once-fringe leftist faction that has soared in popularity ahead of the Sept. 12 elections based on a pledge to change the austerity policies of the current center-right governing coalition.

Opinion polls at the beginning of last week had shown Mr. Roemer’s Socialists in the lead. But his performances in two televised debates last week appear to have hurt his chances: A new Ipsos poll released Monday evening shows the Socialists trailing both the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Labor Party, the Netherlands’ traditional Leftist party, led by former Greenpeace activist Diederik Samsom.Still, if Mr. Roemer’s support holds up on election day, the Socialists would significantly boost their presence in the 150-seat lower house, where the party currently has 15 seats.

The elections are likely to be followed by horse-trading among political parties to form a government. That could be a lengthy process, given that the country’s left-leaning parties will struggle to win enough votes to form their own government, and also would be loath to join a grand coalition with the Liberals—a step Mr. Roemer has already ruled out. But Mr. Roemer’s presence in the governing coalition could prompt a sea change in the country’s approach to the crisis and help shift Europe’s strategy for saving the euro away from the austerity-first policy of Mr. Rutte.

Mr. Roemer wants the European Central Bank to play a more active role in taming the crisis, favors giving Greece more time to cut its deficit, but opposes German-led plans to surrender more national power over economic policy to Brussels, the European Union’s bureaucratic capital.

“Political union isn’t possible in this Europe where the differences are so great, between north and south,” he told reporters over the weekend while campaigning at a shopping mall in Boxmeer, a small town in the southern Netherlands where he was a local politician before becoming a member of Parliament.

The Socialists are riding a wave of discontent over tax increases and government spending cuts that have caused growth to stagnate. The unemployment rate is now 5.3%—still among the lowest in Europe but up sharply from 4.3% a year ago. Falling real-estate prices are pinching spending by Dutch households, which are saddled with some of the largest mortgage debts in Europe.

A prime target of Mr. Roemer’s campaign has been EU budget rules that call for the Netherlands to cut its government deficit to under 3% of gross domestic product by the end of next year. “People are, for me, more important than the rules,” Mr. Roemer, 50 years old, said Saturday in Boxmeer. “When it’s necessary that we are investing in our economy, even if 3% will be 4%, then we have to do that.” The crisis, he said, has shown that the EU’s economic rules, negotiated in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1992, need far-reaching changes. “It’s not valid anymore,” Mr. Roemer said of the Maastricht agreement. “Time has changed and politicians must change too when the times change.”

Accompanied by a band cranking out tunes by Pink Floyd and Madonna, Mr. Roemer, tall and beefy with the usual smile fixed on his face, shook hands with voters, spoke with reporters and served some of the party’s trademark tomato sorbet. The sorbet comes from the Socialist Party symbol of a tomato with a white star in the middle, a throwback to its days as a protest party throwing figurative tomatoes; the white star is the only relic left of its roots as a Maoist offshoot from a 1970s-era split of the Dutch Communist Party.

The Dutch left is still divided by internal quarrels that could damp its success at the polls next week. The Socialists are competing for votes with the Dutch Labor Party, the Greens and Democrats 66. All of them would need to unite to have a chance at gaining a majority in the 150-seat Parliament and form a government, according to the latest polls.

Some of the Socialist Party’s surge in the Netherlands is due to the popularity of Mr. Roemer himself: He is seen as honest and affable. But he has lost ground in recent polls after many felt he came off vague and weak in televised debates last week.

“Roemer’s a very nice guy, but he’s too nice,” said Jos Bussers, 43, who normally votes for the Liberals but considers Mr. Rutte a “softie.” Last week’s debate convinced Mr. Bussers that Mr. Roemer isn’t ready to be prime minister, and he is now leaning toward voting for the Labor Party after the strong debate performance by its leader, Mr. Samsom.

Despite Mr. Roemer’s stance against Mr. Rutte’s budget policies, the Socialist leader’s plan would still reduce the Dutch budget deficit next year, according to the Dutch Central Planning Bureau, the official referee of government budget policy. The Socialist Party’s deficit target for next year is 2.7% of GDP—roughly in line with the 2.6% deficit targeted by Mr. Rutte’s budget plan, according to the CPB.

Mr. Roemer’s plan raises taxes on wealthier people to close the gap. It also proposes €3 billion of housing and infrastructure investments to soften the negative impact of tax increases on the Dutch economy. Mr. Rutte’s plan relies mainly on spending cuts to reduce the deficit.Mr. Roemer and Mr. Rutte appear to differ more sharply on how to fix the euro-zone crisis. Mr. Roemer said Greece could be given more time to cut its budget deficit if there is a workable program in place, a move opposed for the time being by Mr. Rutte’s government.

Dennis De Jong, a Socialist Party member of the European Parliament, said the party supports giving the euro zone’s rescue funds the power to borrow from the ECB to lend money to beleaguered euro-zone governments.

“If we would use the mechanism of creating money, getting new money, not from national governments but from the ECB, then I think [Mr. Roemer] would be in a favor of a rescue plan,” Mr. De Jong said Saturday, speaking on behalf of Mr. Roemer’s campaign. “That is the only way forward.”

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443571904577629640764948920.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Greek

Το μεγαλύτερο ελληνικό νοσοκομείο αντιμέτωπο με τις καταστροφικές συνέπειες των περικοπών – video

Δυο χρόνια από την επιβολή του μνημονίου το εθνικό σύστημα υγείας βρίσκεται στα πρόθυρα κατάρρευσης καθώς νοσοκομεία σε όλη τη χώρα ακυρώνουν προγραμματισμένες επεμβάσεις λόγω ελλείψεων υλικών.

Ένα εφιαλτικό σενάριο που παρουσιαζόταν σαν φόβητρο, για την περίπτωση μη αποδοχής των δανειακών συμβάσεων, γίνεται πραγματικότητα λίγα 24ωρα πριν από τις κρίσιμες εκλογές της 17ης Ιουνίου.

Η εφημερίδα Guardian βρέθηκε στο Γενικό Κρατικό Νίκαιας, ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα νοσοκομεία των Βαλκανίων, και παρακολούθησε την αγωνιώδη καθημερινή μάχη γιατρών και νοσηλευτών.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greek-election-blog-2012/video/2012/jun/15/greek-elections-2012-greece

On May 6, the people gave a decisive blow to the former ruling parties that conceded the austerity policies and brought the state’s economy to its knees. Since the May elections the propaganda of the mainstream media and statements of officials are trying to force the people in Greece to accept the policies of the Troika and the previous government. The media promote gloomy scenarios together with an image of Greece regressing back to the Stone Age in case the austerity policies come to a halt. On top of it, a patronized left-wing / right-wing division is imposed on the Greek society. EU-officials ignore the message of the Greek elections and keep interfering with domestic politics by expressing their expectation from the new government to stick to the commitments of the previous administration. The IMF director C. Lagarde, the German Chancellor A. Merkel and the German minister of Finance W. Schäuble accuse openly the people in Greece for the disaster to come in case they decide to turn their back to their policies. Their propaganda aims at persuading the Greeks to give the majority-vote to the pro-austerity parties.

The EU and the IMF expect from the new government to apply budget cuts up to 1.5% of GDP within 2012 and 3.8% until 2015. According to the Revised Adjustment Program of March 2012 this goal will be achieved by the redundancy of 150.000 civil servants, a further decrease in salaries and pensions below 600€ and 400€ respectively, and the complete abolishment of employment protection and social-security benefits. These measures will be applied on top of the 25% loss of average income, the 100.000 companies that have closed down, an unemployment rate that has reached 21%, and the rapidly increasing rates of homelessness and suicides.

IT IS TIME TO ACT

The real dilemma in the coming elections is not IN or OUT of the Eurozone. The real dilemma is how we want to live, how we want to organize the society, how we vision our future in Greece and in Europe. Although we do not rest our hopes on governments, we do believe that the elections of June 17th is an important step to bring social and political change. The toppling of the political status quo and nepotism that has been established for decades by the ruling parties in Greece is absolutely necessary.

We call people to vote against the parties that are responsible for the current situation in Greece. PASOK and ND along with the ultra right-wing neoliberal politicians from LAOS ruled the country the last three decades and are those who applied the austerity policies of the last two years. Even though these policies clearly failed and led people to despair, they aim at pursuing them further. The same applies to the new party Drasi-Dimiourgia Ksana, which appears to be a promising choice for Greek people but in reality embodies the same neoliberal imperatives.We also call for voting against the parties that despite their anti-Memoranda rhetoric, are ready to assist the Greek elite, the EU and the IMF (DIM.AR., Kammenos). These parties were proven to be double-faced in the government formation attempts that followed the elections of May. Finally, we call people to give a decisive NO against the fascist party Golden Dawn (Xrisi Avgi) and their criminal practice of attacking violently immigrants and other social minorities.

Without resting our hopes on parties or individual saviors, we call the Greeks living in the Netherlands to vote for the Left demanding from it the denouncement of the Memoranda, the immediate cease of debt payments and the cancellation of austerity measures without any negotiation with the Troika. These are the minimum requirements to set a new course that will get people out of the crisis. To apply these measures a confrontation with the Troika and other economic and political elites is required. The role of social movements in this conflict is essential. In order for real democracy to prevail, any commitments to the elites and any negotiations with the Troika must be challenged by the people.

The message to the Greek puppet-politicians should be the following; THEIR AGREEMENTS ARE NOT LEGITIMATE. The message to the EU and the IMF that we won’t pay their crisis must be clear. While being conscious that change will not be achieved only through the elections, we call the Greeks living in the Netherlands to vote against the corrupted political system and the austerity policies imposed by the EU and IMF.

REinFORM

From Athens to Amsterdam: NO to the cutbacks!
Solidarity with the Greek resistance against European austerity

The developments in Greece concern all of us. The long-lasting implementation of harsh austerity measures has led the country into a deep social crisis. The EU and the IMF demand the continuation of these disastrous policies in Greece and in other EU-member states. It is time to turn the tide: People before profit and citizens before banks! Join the solidarity rally on Saturday June 16th, the day before the
Greek elections, at the Beursplein in Amsterdam to convey the message to the Greek people: your struggle is our struggle – vote against austerity!

The Troika – the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF – demand from the new Greek government to impose even harder austerity measures. According to internal reports, these measures include the firing of 150.000 civil servants, the reduction of mean salaries and pensions to €600 and €400 per month, respectively and the complete abolition of employment protection and the welfare state. These measures will be applied on top of the already-imposed 25% income reduction, the 100.000 bankrupt companies and the 21% unemployment.

In a meantime the situation in Greece has become critical. Hospitals lack medical supplies, half of the young people are unemployment, in many companies the workers have not been paid for months, homelessness and suicides are rapidly increasing. No wonder the Greek people are fighting back in massive waves of resistance against these inhuman policies.

Why does all this concern us? The Greeks are in the front line of the European politics of the crisis. They are the guinea pig for a policy that is on the agenda of the entire continent. The Kunduz-agreement follows the same line as the first austerity policies that were applied in Greece. And in the same way that Greek people were deprived of their democracy with the European mandates, we risk being deprived of ours as well. Moreover, across Europe the extreme-right is trying to profit by blaming Muslims and migrants for the crisis. That is why these elections are not only about the future of Greece, but about our future as well.

If the Troika manages to achieve their aim, then other countries will soon follow the path of Greece. First Spain, Portugal and Ireland, and then the so-called ‘core-countries’. But if the Greeks manage to stop these disastrous policies, this will become an example for all Europeans and show that an alternative is possible. One which taxes the rich instead of the poor, where people have control over the economy and where hope prevails over hatred.
On Saturday the 16th of June, we call everybody to come to the Beursplein and declare to the Greeks: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

The workers, the pensioners, the students and the unemployed of Europe share the same interests:

STOP AUSTERITY AND RETURN THE BILL. YOUR STRUGGLE IS OUR STRUGGLE – INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

Saturday June 16
15:00 Beursplein
Amsterdam

Organized by Reinform, Internationale Socialisten, DIDF, Grenzeloos, Real Democracy Groningen, Doorbraak, Kritische Studenten Utrecht en Ander Europa.

Thousands of protesters descended on Tahrir Square on Tuesday as the schism threatening to tear Egyptian politics apart continued ahead of the presidential election runoff later this month.

Several marches set off throughout the capital to join up with protesters already in Tahrir. The latest round of street protests were sparked by the verdict in the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak. He received a life sentence but many of his sons and aides were exonerated.

Causing as much anger is the presence of Mubarak’s prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, in the presidential election runoff, where he will face the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi.

On one march, protesters tore down posters of Shafik. Chants against the old regime and the ruling military junta echoed through the streets.

Ali Abu Zeid, a protester at one of the marches, said: “We’re still asking for that Tahrir slogan ‘Bread, freedom and social justice’. The regime hasn’t fallen yet. We must remove Shafik and enforce the law against Mubarak.”

Three of the marches heading to Tahrir were led by the “revolutionary” presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabahy, Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futoh and Khaled Ali. The three candidates also made an appearance in Tahrir on Monday night, addressing a crowd that mobbed them as they entered the square.

They alleged vote-rigging in the first round of the elections, saying that more than 1.5m votes were fraudulent, and listed a series of demands, including the retrial of Mubarak and his sons and interior ministry aides, and the removal of Shafik from the presidential runoff.

The case for Shafik’s removal stems from a disenfranchisement law passed by parliament which stipulates that members of the Mubarak regime cannot run for office. The presidential commission that oversees the elections, however, has a mandate from the interim constitution that gives it the final say on all election matters. The commission initially barred Shafik from the race but then allowed him to stand following an appeal.

The candidates who were eliminated in the first round are mulling the idea of a joint civil presidential council in place of the current elections, comprising pro-revolution figures such as the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, who arrived in Cairo on Tuesday and was scheduled to give a press conference later in the day.

Another protester, Amira Reda, said: “The idea of a presidential council is good, the two candidates in the runoff do not represent what the majority want as the first round results have shown.”

Shafik is rejected by revolutionary groups because he was prime minister during the 18-day revolt that overthrew Mubarak and more pertinently, was in office during the infamous Battle of the Camel on 2 February 2011, when gangs attacked Tahrir square in a battle that raged through the night.

Bij de afgelopen verkiezingen hebben Nieuwe Democratie en Pasok (die eerder het snoeibeleid van ECB en IMF doorvoerden) zwaar verloren. De radicaal linkse partij Syriza is de tweede partij geworden. Wat betekent deze uitslag?

De bevolking heeft zich duidelijk tegen het bezuinigingsbeleid uitgesproken. De vorige regering had aangekondigd op korte termijn nog 5,5 procent van het bruto binnenlands product te bezuinigen. Dat zou betekenen: ontslag voor tienduizenden ambtenaren, nog verdere matiging van lonen naar 300 euro en de afschaffing van alle cao’s.

Ook nu is de situatie al verschrikkelijk. De werkloosheid is gestegen tot 21 procent en zelfs 51 procent voor jongeren. Meer dan 100.000 middelgrote bedrijven zijn gesloten. Ambtenaren en werknemers in de private sector krijgen elke maand een nog lager salaris.

De resultaten zijn een boodschap voor de Griekse werkgevers. De Griekse grote bedrijven profiteren enorm van de crisis. Arbeidskosten zijn gedaald naar het niveau van begin jaren tachtig. En de Griekse bevolking heeft ook een boodschap gestuurd aan alle bevolkingen in Europa. Het bezuinigingsbeleid moet onmiddellijk stoppen. De boodschap van de Griekse bevolking en deels ook van de Franse bevolking is dat de EU, Merkel, Schäuble en alle bezuinigingsregeringen geen toestemming van de bevolkingen hebben om dit beleid te blijven voeren.

Wat is Syriza voor partij?

‘Syriza’ betekent eigenlijk Coalitie van Radicaal Links, maar het is geen radicale linkse partij. Syriza is tegen het bezuinigingsbeleid en wil dat Griekenland tijdelijk stopt met de aflossing van de staatsschuld, maar Syriza is ook voorstander van de deelname van Griekenland aan de EU en de euro.

Syriza is wel een partij die aan de beweging deelneemt. Ze wordt binnenkort geconfronteerd met een keuze: kunnen hun voorstellen gerealiseerd worden binnen de EU en de eurozone? Mijn antwoord is nee. Als ze ‘ja’ blijven zeggen, worden ze gedwongen tot zware compromissen die schadelijk voor de bevolking zijn.

Er komen nu nieuwe verkiezingen. Wat verwacht je daarvan?

De media, de bezuinigingspartijen en de trojka doen hun best om de bevolking te terroriseren. Hun doel is dat de bezuinigingspartijen een regering kunnen vormen om hetzelfde beleid uit te voeren. De vraag is nu wat de bevolking gaat doen. In de peilingen boekt Syriza nog meer winst en wordt de grootste partij. Maar de vraag is of de bevolking de straat op gaat.

Griekenland kent al lange tijd een hoog niveau van strijd, met algemene stakingen en werkplekken die zijn overgenomen door het personeel. Kun je daar iets meer over vertellen?

De laatste twee jaar zijn er tientallen algemene stakingen geweest en nog meer andere acties tegen het bezuinigingsbeleid. Ik kan het voorbeeld noemen van de staking in Hellenic Steelworks SA, waar de arbeiders al vijf maanden in staking zijn. Sommige acties zijn een niveau verder gegaan. Het ziekenhuis van Kilkis is overgenomen door de werknemers. De stakers van de failliete krant Eleftherotypia (de Griekse Volkskrant) zijn erin geslaagd twee keer de krant te publiceren zonder steun van de werkgever.

Maar er ligt een lange weg voor ons. Tegenover de Griekse bevolking staan niet alleen de grote Griekse werkgevers, de bezuinigingspartijen een de media, maar ook de EU, de Europese banken en alle Europese regeringen. Met de verkiezingen is een ding duidelijk geworden: elke poging om hetzelfde beleid door te voeren komt neer op een soort staatsgreep.

Wat vind je dat links in Griekenland moet doen?

Links moet nieuwe vormen van organisatie vinden voor de bevolking die gebaseerd moeten zijn op directe democratie. Zulke initiatieven zijn al zichtbaar en moeten nog verder verspreid worden: volksvergaderingen in steden, in wijken in arbeidsplaatsen. De beweging moet echter een stap verder gaan: die moet manieren vinden om de maatschappij te organiseren zonder de dilemma’s van de bezuinigingspartijen, zonder de winst van de banken en de grote bedrijven de prioriteit te geven.

Natuurlijk is de machtsstrijd cruciaal. Die wordt de komende maanden nog crucialer. In eerste instantie is de houding ten opzichte van de staatsschuld en de EU belangrijk. De eerste stappen zijn: De staatsschuld negeren, de euro en de EU onmiddellijk verlaten en de banken en grote bedrijven nationaliseren. De bevolking moet de regie over de economie krijgen. Zolang banken en de financiële wereld onafhankelijk opereren is dat onmogelijk. Zolang grote bedrijven, zoals telecommunicatie, spoorwegen en elektriciteit, geprivatiseerd zijn of worden kan de economie geen andere koers volgen. Daarnaast moeten de bezuinigingen onmiddellijk stoppen, omdat ze tot een diepere recessie leiden.

De andere kant van de polarisatie van de Griekse maatschappij is het feit dat de nazi-partij Gouden Dageraad voor het eerst in het parlement komt. Hoe gevaarlijk is deze ontwikkeling? Hoe staat het met strijd tegen racisme en fascisme in Griekenland?

De grote tegenvaller van de verkiezingen was de grote winst van de militante nazi-partij, de Gouden Dageraad. Dit is een partij van criminelen die migranten aanvalt, terroriseert en mishandelt, met de steun van de vorige regeringen en de politie. Er is geschat dat 50 procent van de politieagenten op deze partij heeft gestemd. De Griekse elite heeft de nazi-partij nodig als een tegenwicht voor links en vooral voor de beweging.

De Gouden Dageraad is er om de bevolking te overtuigen dat het probleem niet ligt bij de bezuinigingen, de EU en het IMF, maar bij de migranten. De 7 procent die de Gouden Dageraad bereikte is zeker zorgwekkend. Er zijn in Griekenland een heleboel acties georganiseerd tegen de Gouden Dageraad. Maar de belangrijkste strijd is tegen het establishment dat ruimte geeft aan de fascisten.

Wat vind je van de manier waarop er door Europese politici wordt gesproken over ‘de Grieken’? Wat vind je dat de rol van links in Europa moet zijn ten aanzien van Griekenland?

De belachelijke argumenten over ‘luie Grieken’ die de crisis hebben veroorzaakt omdat ze geen belastingen betalen en vroeg met pensioen gaan hebben maar een doel: de bevolking van Noord-Europa overtuigen de bezuinigingen in hun eigen land te accepteren om de ramp van Griekenland te vermijden. Maar Griekse toestanden is precies wat Nederland zal krijgen met het Kunduz-akkoord.

Griekenland is maar een proefkonijn van Europa. Wat in Griekenland nu is uitgevoerd zal straks min of meer in heel Europa doorgevoerd worden. De logica van de bezuinigingen blijft hetzelfde: de bevolking moet zijn inkomen en rechten inleveren om de euro te behouden, te banken te blijven financieren en de winst van de grote bedrijven te verhogen.

De propaganda tegen ‘de Grieken’ heeft nog een doel. De Europese politici moeten straks hun kiezers uitleggen waarom zij de rekening van de Griekse staatsschuld moeten betalen. Met de leningsafspraken komt binnenkort tweederde van de onbetaalbare Griekse staatsschuld in de handen van Europese overheden. Dit betekent dat als Griekenland failliet gaat (en dat duurt niet lang …) komt dit bedrag voor rekening van de Europese bevolkingen.

Europees links moet af van de logica dat het de EU en de euro niet fundamenteel mag bekritiseren. We moeten samen met een strijdvoorstel komen dat een weg uit de crisis voor de belangen van alle bevolkingen zal bereiken. Als links de EU en de euro blijft steunen, blijven we ver weg van deze oplossing. Er moet een strijdbare beweging komen die niet alleen tegen de bezuinigingen strijd, maar ook voor een andere samenwerking van bevolkingen en nationaal georganiseerde bewegingen tegen ‘hun’ Europese Unie.

http://socialisme.nu/blog/nieuws/27449/boodschap-van-grieken-aan-heel-europa-%E2%80%98stop-de-bezuinigingen-onmiddellijk%E2%80%99/

 

Translated in English :

In the Greek elections, the left-wing anti-austerity party SYRIZA achieved large gains. As all attempts to form a coalition-government failed, new elections will be held on the 17^th of June. Dimitris Pavlopoulos, an assistant professor at the VU University Amsterdam and activist gives his vision for the situation in Greece to socialisme.nu.

 

 

In the last elections both New Democracy and PASOK (that applied the austerity policies of the ECB and the IMF) suffered large losses. The radical left party SYRIZA climbed to the second place. What does this outcome mean?

 

The people expressed their clear opposition to the austerity policies. The previous government had announced that new budget cuts at the level of 5.5% of GDP would be applied. This would mean: tens of thousands of lay offs for civil servants, more wage reductions to 300 euros and abolition of collective employment agreements.

 

Even now the situation is terrible. Unemployment has climbed to 21% and 51% for young people. More than 100.000 companies have closed. Civil servants and private-sector workers receive every month a lower salary.

The election result is a clear message for the Greek employers. The large Greek companies profit enormously from the crisis. Labour costs are reduced to the level of the beginning of the 1980’s. The Greek people have also sent a message to all people in Europe. The austerity policies must stop immediately. The message of the Greek people but to a certain extend also of the French people is that the EU, Merkel, Schäuble and all austerity-oriented government do not have the legitimacy to continue applying this policy.

What kind of party is SYRIZA

Although the initials ‘SYRIZA’ mean coalition of radical left, SYRIZA is not a radical left party. SYRIZA stands against the austerity policies and wants Greek to temporarily stop serving the sovereign debt. However, SYRIZA is a proponent of the participation of Greece to the EU and to the euro.

 

SYRIZA is indeed a party that participates in the movement. However, they will be soon confronted with a choice: is it possible to realize their program in the EU and the eurozone? My own answer is ‘no’ and I think that if they continue saying ‘yes’, they will be forced to make serious compromises that will be harmful for the people.

New elections are coming. What do you expect from them?

The media, the austerity-oriented parties and the Troika are doing their best to terrorize the people. Their aim is to make it possible for these parties to form a government that will apply the same policies as before. The question is now how the people will react. In the polls, SYRIZA is even stronger and becomes the first party. However, the question is whether the people will take the streets.

 

For a long period, Greece has experienced an increased level of struggle with general strikes and workplaces that are overtaken by workers. Can you say something more about it?

In the last 2 years, several general strikes and numerous smaller actions against the austerity policies have taken place. As an example, I can name the strike at Hellenic Steelworks SA. In this company, workers have been in strike for more than 5 months. Some actions have gone one step further. The hospital of Kilkis is controlled by its medical and administrative personnel. The strikers of the bankrupted newspaper Eleftherotypia have managed to publish the newspaper twice without the support of their employer. Howevers, there is still a long way to go. The Greek people have not only the Greek employers, the austerity parties and the media against them. The EU, the European banks and all European government stand against the Greek people. However, the Greek people has made one thing clear with the election result: every attempt to continue applying the same policies will be in practice a sort of coup d’état.

 

What should the left in Greece do?

The left has to find new ways of organizing the people that should be based on direct democracy. Such initiatives are already visible but should spread further: popular assemblies in cities, neighborhoods and working places. However, the movement needs to go one step further: we have to find a way to organize the society without the dilemma’s that are posed by the austerity parties, without giving priority to the profit of the banks and the large companies.

 

Of course, the struggle for power is crucial and in the coming months it will become even more crucial. At the first place the way we deal with the sovereign debt and the EU is important. The first steps should be: write off the sovereign debt, leave immediately the EU and the euro and nationalize the banks and the large companies. The people should take control of the economy. As long as large companies such as telecommunications, railways and energy remain or are in the course of being privatized it is impossible to set a different course for the economy. Moreover, the austerity policies have to stop immediately as they lead to a deeper recession.

The opposite side of the polarization of the Greek society is the fact that for the first time the nazi-party Golden Dawn gained seats in the parliament. How dangerous is this development? What is happening with the movement against racism and fascism in Greece.

 

The important negative side of these elections was the large gains of the militant nazi-party, Golden Dawn. This is a party of criminals that attacks and terrorizes immigrants with the support of the police and the previous governments. It is estimated that about 50% of policemen voted for this party. Actually, the Greek elite needs the neo-nazi party to counterweight the left and the movement.

The aim of the Golden Dawn is to persuade the people that the problem is not the austerity policies, the EU or the IMF but the immigrants. The 7% that this party achieved in the elections is really worrying. Several actions have been organized against the Golden Dawn. However, the most important struggle is against the establishment that gives room to the fascists.

What do you thing about the way that European politicians speak about the ‘Greeks’?

What do you think that the role of left Europe has to be with respect to Greece?

 

The ridiculous arguments about the ‘lazy Greeks’ that created the crises because they pay no taxes and get a pension very early have an aim: they want to persuade the people of north Europe to accept the austerity policies in their own countries in order to avoid the ‘Greek disaster’. However, with the Kundus-agreement that’s exactly what the Netherlands will get!

Greece is just the guinea pig of Europe. What is now applied in Greece will be soon applied more or less in the whole Europe. The idea behind the austerity policies remains the same: the people has to give up their income and their rights to preserve the euro, to continue financing the banks and to increase the profit of the large companies.

The propaganda against the ‘Greeks’ has also another aim. The European politicians should explain very soon to their voters why they (the voters) have to pay the bill of the Greek sovereign debt. With the current loan agreements, two thirds of the insolvable Greek debt will be soon in the hands of the European governments. This means that when Greece goes bankrupt (and this will not take long…), this bill will be presented to the European people.

The European left has to do away with the idea that the EU and the euro should be never fundamentally criticized. We have to form a program for a struggle that will lead us out of the crisis but in a way that the interests of all people are served. The more the left continues to support the EU and the euro, the further we stay from such a way. We should built a strong movement that will fight not only against the austerity policies but also for a different way of collaboration between people and nationally oriented movements against ‘their’ European Union.