After a series of talks with European leaders at the EU summit in Riga Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces a groundswell of opposition at a two-day meeting of Syriza’s central committee.
In a speech to his party’s central committee on Saturday, reported in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Tsipras said Greece is in the final stretch of negotiations and is ready to accept a “viable agreement” with its creditors but not on “humiliating terms.” He ruled out submitting to what he described as irrational demands on VAT rates and further labor reform, and called on creditors to make “necessary concessions.” “We have made concessions but we also have red lines,” he said, claiming that some foreign officials were counting on the talks failing.
But the PM is under pressure to agree a deal that excludes new austerity measures from members of the “Left Platform” - a hardline faction representing around 30 of Syriza’s 149 representatives in the Greek Parliament. The energy minister and leader of the “Left Platform” Panagiotis Lafazanis told central committee members that the governing party could not back down on its pre-election pledges and that it must prepare the Greek people in case there is no deal compatible with its promises.
“The so-called institutions in the last four months have applied a drip-feed torture on the Greek people, one of the most horrible blackmail practices in world history, at the expense of the country,” he said.
Mr. Lafazanis suggested that the impact of Greece’s exit from the euro zone could be manageable
and that the government must be ready for a possible “alternative solution” to avoid new austerity measures and privatization of government assets.
After two days of deliberations the call for a clash with lenders by the Left Platform was rejected by Syriza's central committee late Sunday by a vote of 95 to 75. The central committee voted in favor of PM's Tsipras's proposed line on the negotiations - that Greece should reach a “mutually beneficial deal” with creditors that is not based on further austerity measures and that includes a debt restructuring and investment program.
Meanwhile Greece warns it is set to default on IMF payment due on June as the government cannot raise enough money to pay pensions and creditors. In an interview with Greek television station Mega TV, reported in the Guardian, The Greek interior minister, Nikos Voutsis, insisted the country is near to financial collapse. he said Athens needed to strike a deal with its European partners within the next couple of weeks or it would default on repayments to the International Monetary Fund that form part of its €240 billion rescue package.
A new round of negotiations at the Brussels Group is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with Greek sources estimating that a preliminary agreement which will lay the ground for the extension of financial assistance to Greece can be reached.