Political and practical chaos continues in Greece after the Riots of Sunday !

http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/8/53389

Tsipras: Eurogroup is Procrustes of European democracy

16 Feb 2012

Alexis Tsipras (Eurokinissi) Austerity piled on austerity is making Greece's exit from the euro appear as "an unavoidable choice", the leader of the fifth largest party in parliament said on Thursday.   Alexis Tsipras, who heads the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza), said that while his coalition has never called for Greece to leave the eurozone, political developments meant this was becoming a greater possibility.   Speaking on public broadcaster NET TV, Tsipras said that the troika would not be satisfied with written commitments from all the political party leaders in Greece to uphold the austerity agreement, regardless of the outcome of elections expected in April.   "They will also be asking the pensioners to sign a letter of remorse that they accept that their pensions will sink to 200 euros", he said.   He warned that "A country with salaries of 400 euros cannot be a European country of Europe, but an African one. Greece is distancing itself from Europe and going closer to Libya and Egypt."   He opined that voters will face the dilemma of "don't vote left so that the country will be saved" if elections are held.   "The Eurogroup is turning into the Procrustes of democracy in Europe," he said, referring to the mythological Greek figure who stretched people or cut off their legs, so as to force them to fit the size of an iron bed.   "[German Finance Minister Wolfgang] Schaeuble is playing the same role as that played by the tanks in the Second World War." and..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/feb/16/greece-bailout-eurozone-crisis-live 11.55am: Last Sunday's riots continue to cause chaos in Athens,Helena Smith reports: It turns out that practically every single traffic light in central Athens was destroyed in the orgy of violence that erupted during parliament's dramatic vote on the loan deal. Some 200 traffic wardens have been rushed down town to bring order to the roads . But four days later traffic chaos still reigns supreme. Apparently, the cash-strapped transport ministry doesn't have the funds to replace the lights. Photograph: Yiorgos Karahalis/Reuters Here's a picture of Athens commuters standing around one vandalised traffic light, on Tuesday. and.... 11.16am: The prospect of an enhanced troika presence in Athens – to ensure implementation of reforms – is also stoking uproar in Greece today. Public anger against the International Monetary Fund, the EU and the European Central Bank is already high. Helena Smith points out that the Troika officials have been unable to leave their own hotel – the Hilton – via the front door for the last month because of the mass of diehard leftists who daily protest outside. If more Troika representives appear in Athens, tensions could escalate further: "My great fear is that they are turning Greece into a communist state," said the far-right Karatzaferis newspaper, referring to the rise and rise of the left on the back of the opposition whipped up over EU/IMF policies. "I worry about what will happen after elections in April." 11.05am: In Greece today, finance minister Evangelos Venizelos is attempting to rally support for the controversial rescue package from political leaders. Venizelos is insisting that this support is "absolutely vital" if EU leaders are to be persuaded that Greece is actually capable of enforcing the cost-cutting laid out in the draconian package. It's a big ask, warns Helena Smith, our Athens correspondent. With the exception of George Papandreou, the socialist Pasok leader and Antonis Samaras the conservative New Democracy leader - the coalition government's main supporters – opposition to this latest round of austerity is at an all-time high. Helena reports: Bracing himself, Venizelos began by meeting Dora Bakoyiannis, the former foreign minister who heads the small centrist Democratic Alliance party and is also a supporter of the measures. "The message from Greece must be clear. The corrective changes will happen. Greece is determined to stay in the eurozone," Bakoyiannis said. "We expect Europe to show respect to the Greek people and at the same time assure that sacrifices will not go lost." But his subsequent meeting with Georgios Karatzaferis, head of the populist Laos and the government's junior party is unlikely to be as easy. Karatzaferis lambasted the loan agreement this morning as being "essentially unenforceable."