Image via WikipediaI am a simple every day no one... that needs to tell you Sir that you have lied to the people of this nation. You betrayed the trust of this nation and you have breached everything we enjoyed in our Constitution. When you came into office twenty months ago you used the phrase "lefta yparxoun -money exists-", and several days after your victory you began a campaign explaining to us how there was no money at all.
You were elected as Prime Minister after charging that the government of former Premier Costas Karamanlis was corrupt and had accepted kickbacks. For this you formulated parliamentary committees to investigate these alleged “scandals" and what was the outcome Sir? NOTHING! They were all based on hearsay and speculation. In simple words, none of the parties indicated were even involved in this so-called scandal (as far as the decision-making was involved since the whole affair had been decided by members of your party while in office in 2003). The whole Vatopedi alleged scandal proved to be nothing more than a weapon by yourself and members of your party to lash out garbage towards your opponent Mr. Karamanlis because you could not find another way to tarnish his reputation and popularity with us. I also speculate that you did this because you knew very well that he was by far a stronger opponent as well.
You were elected as Prime Minister after charging that the government of former Premier Costas Karamanlis was corrupt and had accepted kickbacks. For this you formulated parliamentary committees to investigate these alleged “scandals" and what was the outcome Sir? NOTHING! They were all based on hearsay and speculation. In simple words, none of the parties indicated were even involved in this so-called scandal (as far as the decision-making was involved since the whole affair had been decided by members of your party while in office in 2003). The whole Vatopedi alleged scandal proved to be nothing more than a weapon by yourself and members of your party to lash out garbage towards your opponent Mr. Karamanlis because you could not find another way to tarnish his reputation and popularity with us. I also speculate that you did this because you knew very well that he was by far a stronger opponent as well.
When the global crises broke in 2008, and the then government of Mr. Karamanlis took measures to safeguard the banking system and our deposits, your party lashed out at his government saying that they were siding with the banks. But once again, when you came into power you not only doubled the amount that Mr. Karamanlis had given as security to the banks, you have almost tripled it.
In several televised interviews prior to your premiership, you specifically said that you would never take Greece to the IMF, but as fate would have it, and as we uncovered in the process through a televised interview with Strauss Khan, you were already in consultations with the International Monetary Fund months before Greece signed the loan agreement, in what he described was an “underground” deal/plan. After being exposed, and basically being unable to deny it, you came out publically and said that you did this because it was your “patriotic” duty… Well Sir… signing over our national sovereignty to lenders, and having the Greek people bow to the beck and call of some money making honchos in three piece suits will not win you the patriot of the year award, this I guarantee you.
You continue to say that your objective is/was to do everything in your power to save the nation. Personally I laugh hysterically whenever you said this Sir, considering the evidence that is surfacing on a daily basis which proves the opposite. If you wanted to secure our welfare and well-being and if you wanted us as a people to truly believe in your vision, then why on earth did you not borrow the necessary funds needed to cover the nation’s expenses when the markets were offering us friendlier interest rates, or the spreads were at around 140 points. Need I remind you that they have increased ten-fold since then?
It is almost like you are giving food to conspiracy theorists that claim that you and your government purposely drove us to the IMF, because you knew beforehand what sort of repercussions this would have on our national economy as well as the Euro. The reason they claim this Sir is because you did not rush to cover the nation’s borrowing needs at the beginning of your term and purposely delayed in taking measures to safeguard the economy. Instead you went on a rampage promoting yourself on global news agencies saying that Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy, and following suit your Finance Minister Mr. Papakostantinou began to characterise our economy a sinking “Titanic”.
And please… do not use the overly used excuse of “we were not fully aware of the situation before we took office.” This might work for some of your fanatic voters, or for people that have a limited sense of what is really going on, but for anyone with any level of logic it does not work. It is standard procedure for every central bank to always give briefings on the nature of the economy to the government and the main opposition party. This is a known fact. So this excuse is not going to cut it with us Sir.
Being part of the European Union, you also locked social solidarity allowances and benefits of some 84 million from Mr. Almunia, that were then given to the union of OLP workers in Pireaus, so that you could comply with the contractual obligations of Greece had towards the Chinese Cosco Company (who you bashed before you came to government). Personally, I see it as a complete humiliation of your administration since it was once again exposed for having complete allegiance to the rampant desires of trade unionists and not to common everyday citizens, such as myself, who are now called on to pay these benefits back. Is this why unionists are not rallying workers in Greece to strike or take action to all the measures? That would mean that you are still financing them. Is that legal Sir?
Following the screening of the alleged video with Strauss-Khan, that exposed your dealings with the IMF, we also learned that they had approached Mr. Karamanlis before he lost office in 2009 (as early as February of that year) in order to accept a loan from them, but he refused. And my next question is this, why did you result to IMF funds after Mr. Karamanlis had already agreed with Mr. Almunia to overcome the crisis by reducing government spending by 30%, freezing public sector wages and pensions for a period of three years?
Instead you criticized Mr. Karamanlis, saying that the wage freezes would lead to recession, and meanwhile you were secretly negotiating with the IMF knowing very well that the loan would result to a reduction in wages… not a freeze Sir, as noted in Portugal.
Going through the information during that period I also noticed that these measures would not have had any whatsoever effect on the cost of borrowing, but instead you ignored all these measures and like I said earlier began to bash your own country. It does not take a rocket scientist Sir to figure out that a lender will not give you money when you yourself are going around and bashing your own nation!
Having all the Greek media on your side, for reasons which one could only imagine, you also presented us with a pensioner at the time that wanted to donate his monthly income to the government in order to help with the national debt. I wonder which buffoon suggested this propaganda tactic to you. Do you actually believe that it does you justice to believe that Greek people are that naive? Are you in the inclination that there are still people out there that believe a crock of sh..t like this?
Speaking of justice, before you gained office you went on a ranting spree to international news agencies about how corrupted the Greek government was and said that when you would come into power that you would instil justice, and in your speeches leading up to the elections in 2009 you strictly spoke about fairness. Fairness and justice Sir have to begin within your ranks first, since your government and party members, who have ruled this country for over 20 years now, have already been charged with profiteering, kickbacks and other such scandals.
If I was in your position, I would not be so quick to judge and/or scrutinize your opponents. If you choose to criticise an opponent do so only when you know that you yourself are crystal clean of any scruples, and I say this in all respect because if such charges, as mentioned over the years, have indeed occurred within your party ranks, then you Sir are also responsible for their cover-up and therefore not blameless.
As mentioned before, the terms fair and just were used solidly before you came into office. I remember in one speech that you specifically said that your government wanted to implement a just and fair tax policy.... but once in office you attempted to write off more than 24 billion Euros in taxes to upper class rich citizens, but brought out a law claiming that if simple people such as myself did not pay their taxes then we would be jailed. And I ask... is that fair, is that just?
If I was in your position, I would not be so quick to judge and/or scrutinize your opponents. If you choose to criticise an opponent do so only when you know that you yourself are crystal clean of any scruples, and I say this in all respect because if such charges, as mentioned over the years, have indeed occurred within your party ranks, then you Sir are also responsible for their cover-up and therefore not blameless.
As mentioned before, the terms fair and just were used solidly before you came into office. I remember in one speech that you specifically said that your government wanted to implement a just and fair tax policy.... but once in office you attempted to write off more than 24 billion Euros in taxes to upper class rich citizens, but brought out a law claiming that if simple people such as myself did not pay their taxes then we would be jailed. And I ask... is that fair, is that just?
And since we are on the subject of taxes, several years ago, while Mr. Karamanlis was in government, you came down hard on him for raising the Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods and services by one percent and during your speeches before taking office, you specifically said that your administration would never increase the tax. Again you lied, because several days after you gained office you raised the VAT from 19 to 23 percent! And I ask... is that fair, is that just?
You had also noted, (word-for-word), that if more tax hikes were implemented on the middle class, then this would automatically throw us into an even deeper recession because it would decrease the buying power of the people. But again... once you gained office you forgot, and/or ignored what you had previously said and suddenly your administration threw ridiculous price hikes on essential utilities such as petrol, electricity and water. Thus we suffered price hikes on numerous products and services and buying power decreased giving way to the bankruptcy and closure of thousands of small to medium sized businesses and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. And I ask... is that fair, is that just?
Do you even realize what you have done? In less than two years in office, you have totally wiped away every sense of filotimo (sense of dignity and honor) we felt as Hellenes. I know our nation is going through an economic crises but I also know in my gut that there were other ways to go about this. My question is why didn't you examine any of these other options?
Your government signed a Memorandum that is going to bloat our debt to some 450 billion in several years and I ask... with what right did you this to us as a people? Did you ask us if we wanted this? Is that your idea of a fair and just society Sir?
According to the leading law makers and constitutionalists in Greece the agreement you made with the Troika (IMF, EU, lenders) is not even legal Sir because never before in the history of loan agreements has a country signed over its sovereign rights. It cannot stand on a national, European and/or international level for it has not been ratified in the Greek parliament and it does not have the approval of the President of the Republic Mr. Karolos Papoulias. Also, we have not voted for it, or does our opinion not matter to you?
With all the evidence presented it looks like you sold out your fellow countrymen Sir. May I be so bold to ask if the stories are true on whether or not they have promised you a seat on the United Nations? And if they are... then you know that this would mean that you are “purposely” following orders, and/or handing us over to the global banking elite because you are too blinded with your own personal goals? I would hate to think so... for it sounds like a pact with the devil to me. Meaning, if they offered you this then what have you offered to give away: our natural reserves, our islands; Macedonia, Thrace, our Seas, our tomorrows; our pride? What? And if the rumours are true, and your only vision is that seat on the UN then how can you not respect international treaties and doctrines which safeguard our sovereignty, or our right to extend our territorial waters and declare EEZ’s?
It seems as if you are purposely allowing us to kneel economically so that you can allow ruthless power hungry companies in the west to come in and place us in a position to sell our reserves at ridicules prices because of the incredible wealth on our backs.
I can go on and on Sir... but firstly I need to know are you satisfied with the misery that your policies for change have brought on to the people of this nation? Youths are making 592 a month, my generation cannot find work because we are over 35 and over-qualified and thousands of people are leaving Greece to look for work abroad.
Doesn't it break your heart to see Hellenes fleeing from their country, or is that what you really desire deep inside? I would hate to think that you purposely want us to abandon our nation in search of survival... only to fill it with non-Hellenes from God knows where. Is that why you want to give amnesty to so many illegal immigrants and or citizenship? They entered our country illegally Sir, by trespassing through our boarders and we have no idea who they are, where they are from, what they might be capable of, and what their history is on all levels (legal, medical, etc.).
And since I mentioned the word compassion, doesn’t brake your heart to see tens of thousands of people on the unemployment lines in the private sector, yet you safeguard the public sector workers because we all know your political party controls its unions. Is that fair… is that just?
Just and fair… you have no concept whatsoever of their true meaning at all.
I do not know what the history books will write about you one day, but between you and I it will not be positive.
In fact I think the only thing occupying your mind is that seat on the UN council. And if that is the case Sir, then please just leave. With the little dignity we have as a people I guarantee you that we will pick up the pieces of this country by ourselves, because we still have filotimo as a nation, and do not need want-to-be leaders such as you any longer… you have done enough damage.
Signed
Marina Spanos