Workers Revolutionary Party - GREEK WORKERS DEFY TROIKA!

The News Line: News Tuesday, 7 July 2015 GREEK WORKERS DEFY TROIKA!

Part of Sunday’s ‘NO’ celebrations in the centre of Athens

IN RESPONSE to the overwhelming Greek ‘No’ vote, European and Asian stock markets and the euro fell when markets opened yesterday morning.

Greek workers, youth and poor farmers voted ‘NO’ by 61.3 per cent in last Sunday’s referendum, rejecting the troika’s barbaric austerity plans. Fearing ‘economic contagion’, stock markets worldwide were hit. Bank shares fell, with Barclays down 1.7%.

Greek workers defiantly rejected the threats from the EU leaders and stood firm against the right wing propaganda from the media and EC and US leaders, demanding a ‘Yes’ vote. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch Eurogroup President menacingly called the ‘NO’ vote ‘sad for the future of Greece’.

A crisis meeting between German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande took place yesterday. It has been estimated that over 250 rallies and demonstrations were held in European cities last week in support of the ‘NO’ vote and against austerity.

All 13 electoral regions in Greece voted ‘NO’; the turn out was 62.5 per cent similar to that of general elections. In the working class districts of the Athens-Piraeus area the ‘NO’ vote was over 80 per cent.

The defeated leader of the conservative New Democracy party Andonis Samaras resigned.
Greek Prime Minister and SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) leader Alexis Tsipras called a meeting of all political parties’ leaders on Monday morning and asked for the resignation of Finance Minister Yianis Varoufakis.

In his resignation statement Varoufakis wrote: ‘It was made known to me that the Eurogroup participants and the other partners would “appreciate” my absence, and the Prime Minister judged that this could help achieve an agreement. That is why I leave the Finance Ministry.

‘I consider a honour the lenders’ demand for my resignation.’ Tsipras intends to open again negotiations with the EC-IMF-ECB troika for an agreement which will include the ‘restructuring’ of the Greek debt.

In a statement the Trotskyists of the Revolutionary Marxist League (RML) welcomed the ‘NO’ vote as a blow to the EC-ECB-IMF and called for the mobilisation of the working class and youth through and indefinite political general strike and occupations rejecting any agreements with the EC-ECB- IMF and organising against the coupist conspiracies of the troika.

The RML said that the EC leaders will intensify the pressure on the Greek government through economic strangulation aiming for its overthrow. The RML states that workers must demand the immediate nationalisation of the banks and big business, the cancelling of the public debt, and withdrawal from EC and NATO.

The RML concludes by an appeal to workers to build rapidly the RML into a mass revolutionary party for the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a workers’ and poor farmers’ government with the perspective of a United Socialist States of Europe.

• Tory Chancellor George Osborne made an emergency statement to parliament yesterday in light of the Greek ‘NO’ vote. He warned that Britain will take whatever measures are necessary to protect Britain’s own interests.