Greece and
its people have been victimized during the last five years by
policies purported to provide a sustainable solution to the country's
over-indebtment and a way out of the economic crisis.
These
policies, contained in agreements called "Memoranda of
Understanding" and concluded by the Greek governments and a trio
of international institutions (namely the IMF, the EC and the ECB)
known as the TROIKA and acting as Greece’s creditors, have resulted
to severe violations of human rights, especially social rights,
fundamental freedoms and the very rule of law.
What has
been presented as “bail-out” loan agreements has resulted to
misery, unemployment at unprecedented rates (72% among young women
and 60% among young men), hundreds of thousands of young people
emigrating, an explosion of suicides, the marginalization of the
young, the old, the weak, the poor, the immigrants the refugees, half
of the country’s children living under the poverty line, a
situation amounting to a humanitarian crisis and documented in the UN
Independent Experts’ on Debt and Human Rights reports and public
statements, as well as in a series of international court decisions
and findings.
On the 25th
of January 2015, only seven months ago, the Greek people through
general elections gave a clear and unequivocal mandate to government
and to parliament to do away with these homicidal policies.
Negotiations started.
A special
Committee of the Parliament was formed, called the Truth Committee on
Public Debt, to conduct an audit and a legal assessment of the debt
it issued a preliminary report last June.
The report
found that the state’s sovereign debt is illegal, illegitimate,
odious and unsustainable. It found that the sovereign debt has been
concluded through procedures which grossly violate constitutional
law, parliamentary procedure and fundamental human rights and
freedoms guaranteed under international law, thereby justifying the
denunciation of the debt. It found that creditors had been acting in
bad faith, knowingly burdening the country with unsustainable loans
to save French, German and Greek private banks.
Despite
these findings, Greece’s creditors insisted that the people’s
mandate be neglected.
On June
25th, a 48 hour ultimatum was addressed to the Greek government
asking it to accept, contrary to popular mandate, a series of
measures dismantling labour law, abolishing social security
guarantees and legal protection for over-indebted citizens, while at
the same time requiring the sell-out of the most precious public
assets and public enterprises, but also major ports, airports and
public infrastructure.
All to be
sold or given away to repay an unsustainable and odious debt.
The Hellenic
Parliament, accepted the Government’s proposal to hold a referendum
on the ultimatum, and the Greek people, through a large majority of
62%, rejected the measures.
During the
referendum week, international and foreign government officials tried
to influence the referendum outcome through statements terrorizing
the people.
The
referendum was held with the banks closed and capital controls
imposed as a result for the ECB’s refusal to provide liquidity
after the proclamation of the referendum.
And yet,
democracy prevailed. The people pronounced themselves clearly and
said a 62% NO to those homicidal measures.
What
followed is a nightmare for every democratic conscience and a
disgrace.
The
creditors refused to consider the referendum outcome. They insisted,
under the threat of provoking a bank-failure and a humanitarian
disaster, that measures harsher than those rejected be adopted.
The
government was forced to accept that Parliament legislates on
pre-formulated texts of hundreds of pages with no deliberation and at
pre-fixed dates with an emergency procedure and with the banks still
closed. This extortion was baptized “prerequisites” for an
agreement and Parliament was called to abolish laws it had only voted
during the previous 4 months and to refrain from any legislative
initiative without prior approval by the creditors.
An over 100
page law construed in 1 article was passed on July 15th in less than
24 hours. A 1000 page law construed in 3 articles was passed on July
22nd in less than 24 hours. An almost 400 page law was passed on
August 14, in 24 hours.
Parliament
legislated 3 times under duress and coercion.
And after
this was done, attesting that a large part of the deputies of the
major governing party, including the Parliament’s President,
refused to vote such legislation, Parliament was inadvertedly
dissolved to ensure a “more stable majority” to implement what
the people have rejected.
Sovereign
debt is being used against the Greek population and the Hellenic
Parliament to reduce Democracy. But Democracy is an ultimate value.
Key part
of Zoe Konstantopoulou’s Speech at the United Nations at the Fourth
World Conference of Speakers of Parliament
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