The atmosphere here in Greece is primarily filled with a sense of
relief. People are very cautious but feel that their dignity has been
restored and more importantly they do not believe that this government
will save them; most of them merely say that the most important thing
that has changed is that we set in place the conditions that will allow
society to self-organise and create different production, human and
learning relationships.
The new government (it feels really weird to refer to them as "government") started with a few symbolic gestures that are very important for the psyche of the society.
The first political announcement of the new prime minister was to say that the EU did not consult Greece when they released their press release supporting the neo-fascist regime in Ukraine, adding that they did not agree with the foreign policy of the EU.
Right after being sworn in as a prime minister (with a civil oath for the first time in Greek history, as until now they were all sworn in with a religious oath taken to a Archbishop), it is customary to pay tribute to the monument of the Unknown Soldier. Tsipras broke that protocol and went to pay tribute to the monument of the thousands of executed civilians by the German occupation forces from WW II.
The appointed minister of health is a blind person who was blinded by an unexploded German hand-grenade when he was a kid. He is one of the last victims of the German occupation still alive.
Now to the important policy stuff:
This government is a few hours old and has already:
1. Cancelled all privatisations in progress (airports, ports, oil company etc.)
2. Announced that all children of immigrants that have grown up in Greece will get citizenship (until now even if you were born and raised in Greece you couldn't get citizenship if you were an immigrant)
3. Decided that the riot police and all police forces that are present in protests and public demonstrations will be disarmed.
4. Announced that the privatised parts of the public electricity company will be re-nationalised
5. Cancelled the standardised testing series of exams that had been imposed in order to pass into the universities.
6. Removed the security fence that has been erected around the Greek parliament since the Squares Movement (the movement before Occupy) in June 2011
7. Have already prepared the laws that will reinstate the minimum salary to 751 € (now there is no real minimum salary and many people have a monthly salary of 300-400 €), the collective agreements (that have been abolished) and will abolish the property tax for middle and lower class.
8. Rehire all the school teachers, cleaners and public radio/TV workers that had been fired the past 1 year.
These are certainly not revolutionary changes but certainly is a very distinct change of direction that has not happened anywhere in Europe for at least the past 25 years. We continue envisioning a world where we will not need any authority deciding for us, a world where freedom and justice are at the epicentre of our society but we acknowledge that a diversity of tactics is respected and desired.
With solidarity.
PS I have to add that it is a great pleasure to be seeing the panic and bitterness of the whole establishment. From mass media, the oligarchs, the right wingers, the fascists and the conservatives, they all have to say something bitter about the recent developments :)(for example the main criticism from the corporate mass media for the new government was that the men ministers were not wearing ties and some were even wearing jeans while taking the civil oath :) ) Just that, gives us a lot of pleasure to see.
The new government (it feels really weird to refer to them as "government") started with a few symbolic gestures that are very important for the psyche of the society.
The first political announcement of the new prime minister was to say that the EU did not consult Greece when they released their press release supporting the neo-fascist regime in Ukraine, adding that they did not agree with the foreign policy of the EU.
Right after being sworn in as a prime minister (with a civil oath for the first time in Greek history, as until now they were all sworn in with a religious oath taken to a Archbishop), it is customary to pay tribute to the monument of the Unknown Soldier. Tsipras broke that protocol and went to pay tribute to the monument of the thousands of executed civilians by the German occupation forces from WW II.
The appointed minister of health is a blind person who was blinded by an unexploded German hand-grenade when he was a kid. He is one of the last victims of the German occupation still alive.
Now to the important policy stuff:
This government is a few hours old and has already:
1. Cancelled all privatisations in progress (airports, ports, oil company etc.)
2. Announced that all children of immigrants that have grown up in Greece will get citizenship (until now even if you were born and raised in Greece you couldn't get citizenship if you were an immigrant)
3. Decided that the riot police and all police forces that are present in protests and public demonstrations will be disarmed.
4. Announced that the privatised parts of the public electricity company will be re-nationalised
5. Cancelled the standardised testing series of exams that had been imposed in order to pass into the universities.
6. Removed the security fence that has been erected around the Greek parliament since the Squares Movement (the movement before Occupy) in June 2011
7. Have already prepared the laws that will reinstate the minimum salary to 751 € (now there is no real minimum salary and many people have a monthly salary of 300-400 €), the collective agreements (that have been abolished) and will abolish the property tax for middle and lower class.
8. Rehire all the school teachers, cleaners and public radio/TV workers that had been fired the past 1 year.
These are certainly not revolutionary changes but certainly is a very distinct change of direction that has not happened anywhere in Europe for at least the past 25 years. We continue envisioning a world where we will not need any authority deciding for us, a world where freedom and justice are at the epicentre of our society but we acknowledge that a diversity of tactics is respected and desired.
With solidarity.
PS I have to add that it is a great pleasure to be seeing the panic and bitterness of the whole establishment. From mass media, the oligarchs, the right wingers, the fascists and the conservatives, they all have to say something bitter about the recent developments :)(for example the main criticism from the corporate mass media for the new government was that the men ministers were not wearing ties and some were even wearing jeans while taking the civil oath :) ) Just that, gives us a lot of pleasure to see.
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