The new government being formed in Greece places people at the heart of its programme of change. The crippling bailout package imposed through the EU/IMF memorandum has created huge increases in unemployment – especially for the young. There is a consequent loss of health insurance and therefore access to health services for nearly one in five, as well as severe homelessness and energy disconnections. This has created what The Lancet has reported as a public-health tragedy. Wages and pensions have been drastically cut while living costs have soared. There has been an erosion of basic rights such as collective bargaining. As well as damaging society, these policies have failed to reboot the Greek economy, and the public debt in relation to GDP is now far greater than it was before the programme started in 2010.The people of Greece have chosen a new path. They have chosen a government committed to ending the austerity programme. They have voted for immediate debt renegotiation. Repudiation of some and repayment of the rest linked to economic growth, to give creditors a stake in growing the economy. German postwar debt was managed like this in 1953. The Greeks have voted in a new sort of government that has placed addressing the humanitarian crisis at the top of its priorities. The government is taking immediate steps to support those suffering the most under the austerity programme. Continue reading...
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