The Socialists and then the
New Democracy Party told Greeks that sacrifices were necessary to avert default
on the state’s debt. This position came at a high political cost on May 6,
2012, when both parties lost seats in the state’s legislative election. “The
established parties collapsed — they had too much pressure from Berlin and
Brussels and the I.M.F.,” said Nikos Xydakis, an newspaper editor and a
political commentator, referring to Greece’s foreign lenders.[1] In other words,
the leaders of the two mainstream Greek parties sold out their compatriots,
having caved in to ultimatums from Merkel operating at the E.U. level. “In a
meeting with President Karolos Papoulias, the leader of the leftist party,
Alexis Tsipras, ridiculed the leaders of the two main parties whose coalition
lost its majority in the parliamentary elections.”[2] Tsipras added that his party
would not be forming a government with either party. The New Democracy Party
had been unable to form a government in the wake of the election, so it was then
Tsipras’ turn to try.
The full essay is in Essays on the E.U. Political Economy, available in print and as an ebook at Amazon.
1. Rachel Donadio and Niki Kitsantonis, “Greek Leftists Rule Out Coalition with Incumbents,” The New York Times, May 8,
2012.
2. Ibid.
