New Democracy MP Adonis Georgiadis is known for his eccentric, occasionally provocative statements. Since his days as the Greek Minister of Shipping, Georgiadis has made a career of parading himself on TV news programs. During heated arguments with political opponents, he has a habit of saying things that, in retrospect, he comes to regret. His latest statement is perhaps his most daring to date. Georgiadis recently announced that, should the current coalition government fall and SYRIZA rise to power, he will immediately withdraw all his money from the bank. At any other time, a statement of that sort would sound merely colorful. But given the fragile, fragmented nature of Greece’s banking system, Georgiadis’s words border on the incendiary. His threat also sounds uncannily similar to those old slogans the Greek right used to feed to their electorate: “If the Communists take power, they will take your homes.” Prime Minister Antonis Samaras himself was quoted as saying something similar a week ago during a lunchbreak with some MPs. Coupled with Georgiadis’s statement, Samaras’s words caused a stir – perhaps unnecessarily. Government spokesperson Sofia Voultepsi rushed to clarify exactly what Samaras meant. For their part, SYRIZA gleefully scrambled to turn Georgiadis’s threat into political gain. SYRIZA spokesperson Panos Skourletis declared that, following Samaras’s cafeteria comment, the “bank run” theme is the government’s new method for presenting the Greek left as a threat to everyday Greeks’ savings. Skourletis said that Samaras is in panic, fearful of SYRIZA’s lengthening lead in the polls. All efforts to downplay Samaras and Georgiadis’s statements seem to confirm that the coalition government is indeed in a state of crisis. Claiming that the leftist opposition bears no responsibility for people’s savings is politically irresponsible. If people do withdraw their funds, the banking system will collapse. This would be devastating for Greece, regardless of who is in power. Much is at stake for Antonis Samaras and Evangelos Venizelos. If they are forced into premature elections, they will certainly lose. The two men will be out of government as well as their own positions of power within their respective parties. Disaffected MPs in both New Democracy and PASOK will challenge their leadership. The two men are clinging desperately to their seats, unwilling to lose power. We can probably expect more “dirty” tactics from now on. SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras heaped promises on the Greek people during his TIF speech two weeks ago. His lead in the polls increasing, he feels that he has the upper hand, he will push for elections. Two SYRIZA MPs recently visited the Bank of Greece and spoke with president Yiannis Stournaras about the general status of the banking system, Georgiadis’s statement, and the possibility of using stagnant funds from the Financial Stability Fund for budgetary purposes. At this point, SYRIZA is virtually a “government in waiting.” Samaras, on the other hand, played the Merkel support card. Yet he came back from Berlin devastatingly empty-handed. He has many battles to wage before the end of the year, both inside and outside of Greece. The troika evaluation will probably prove unfavorable; most of the reforms have not yet been implemented. The difficulty for Samaras is that, should he move to implement all reforms, he will certainly lose his voterhood. Greeks cannot shoulder any more austerity measures. Lenders don’t seem willing to ease terms on the sovereign debt. As a result, there is panic in Maximos Mansion. Alexis Tsipras is knocking at the door.
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