Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Antonis Samaras on Friday announced his rejection of previous policies proposed by the government for exiting the ongoing dire economic crisis, insisting on the need to renegotiate the terms of the Memorandum for the EC-ECB-IMF bailout to Greece.
Speaking to the press after the political leaders' meeting chaired by President Karolos Papoulias, he spoke of a "complete dead end" while he accused the government of "showing no willingness to consent to the renegotiation of the memorandum".
"We have suggested the strongest basis for consensus, namely, a consensus on the renegotiation of the memorandum terms with an emphasis on lower tax indices, as well as, on the measures aimed at boosting economy and cutting extraordinary expenditures," he said. "The government has no desire to consent to a renegotiation; just like when there was no negotiation on its behalf when it accepted the memorandum," he stressed.
Samaras said that the prime minister will discuss the tax policy only if the troika is convinced.
He also accused the premier that "after a week of a strategy of fear, he requested a meeting of the political leaders that lacked content, having nothing new to put on the table."
"We will not give our seal of approval to a policy that levels off the economy and tears down society. We will not put our signature under a policy that drifts away from its goals. We will not accept blackmails that cancel out the meaning and essence of our Democracy," he said.
He underlined that the only way out for the country is to renegotiate the memorandum in order to give the economy a breathing space and be able to exit the crisis.
Samaras said that he has proposed a different plan that is based on fewer taxes to allow the economy to work. "Only then, there will be revenues for the citizens and the state. Only then, we will have recovery and growth."
He concluded that the prime minister said that he is "ready to incorporate some of our proposals into the government plan leaving out, however, the most important element namely, the reduction of tax indices without which there will be no results and the restart of the economy will be impossible to achieve."
ANA
