Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou resigns

A new bombshell, the strongest so far, has hit the Papademos government. Deputy Foreign Minister Mrs. Xenogiannakopoulou has resigned, informing the PM of her decision in a letter.

The reason is the new measures, while it is noteworthy that Mrs. Xenogiannakopoulou, because of her portfolio but also because of her previous term in the European Parliament, has a very good knowledge of the European reality.

The letter reads as follows:

Shown below is the letter of resignation of Deputy Foreign Minister Mrs. Xenogiannakopoulou to the PM:

“Mr. President,

I understand and acknowledge the great efforts being made in conjunction with the Deputy PM Mr. Evangelos Venizelos and the difficult and laborious negotiations you are making within a very unfavorable environment for our country.

As Minister responsible for European affairs, having a background in the last 25 years in many European positions of responsibility and firmly believing in Greece’s European position, I feel disappointed and frustrated by the double speak and the obsession shown by the EU towards the crisis and the options that it attempts to impose on the House and the Greek people through the Troika .

In fact, the obsession is a direct violation of the very Treaty of Lisbon, which recognizes social cohesion, collective bargaining and the autonomy of social partners as basic principles, also mentioned in the new Treaty of the Financial Union which was decided by the recent informal European Council on January 30th.

Unfortunately, the Troika and the institutions it represents do not take into account the lessons learned from the first memorandum, since besides any shortcomings or delays in the implementation, they also attempt to impose measures which will dramatically increase the recession and push society into further desperation.

The decision of October 26th, mainly through the PSI and the debt haircut, is a sliver of hope for our country, if this process is accompanied, besides the necessary fiscal adaptation, with policies which will combat recession and rekindle the economy, while also supporting the Greek people.

The effort of strengthening the competitiveness of the economy cannot be based on the reduction of salaries and the dissolution of labor relations. It cannot be set as a prerequisite and objective, to “balkanize” Greek society and dissolve democratic social achievements which are a valuable part of European culture.

In these crucial times for our country, and with a sense of responsibility, I hereby tender my resignation from the position of Deputy Foreign Minister, because I cannot co-sign the measures that abolish collective bargaining and labor rights.

Thank you for your trust.

Sincerely,
Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou”

The climate for the government is very heavy after yesterday’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Koutsoukos’ resignation and after today’s resignations of the LAOS ministers, of whom Messrs. Voridis and Georgiadis are allegedly determined to vote for the measures.

Due to all this, the cabinet will be convening and reassignments will take place, while the European pressure for the adoption of the measures has intensified.