On Sunday 5 July, we say “no” to the gang of the lenders!
Statement by Xekinima
The government of SYRIZA has taken, finally, the right decision! To appeal to the will of the Greek people on the question of the “deal” with the lenders and to propose its rejection through a referendum!
The initial retreats by the government led the so-called “Institutions” (i.e. the Troika under a new name) to become arrogant beyond all proportions. They wanted to transform the new government into a replica of ND-PASOK-Potami, to force it to apply the exact same policies. They sought to force Syriza to its knees, to ridicule it and, with it, ridicule and subjugate the whole of the Greek people. In this way, they seek to make an example out of it and threaten any other peoples in Europe who might dare to question their dictates.
The SYRIZAgovernment said no to this! At last, a great, loud NO, which can shake Europe and reach every corner of the planet!
The Greek people, and by this we mean the workers, the unemployed, the poor, and the small businesses and middle layers destroyed by the capitalist crisis, must fight for a NO vote with all their strength.
On the opposite side, the forces of reaction will concentrate their forces in one body. The bankers, the ship owners, the industrialists, the big constructors, the mass media, the EU establishment, the international organizations (IMF, ECB, etc) the multinationals — all of these will try to “convince” us that if we say “no”, we will be faced with catastrophe.
Catastrophe would be to vote “yes” to the measures that the lenders want to impose. These measures would mean the continuation of the same policies applied for the past 5 years, which have destroyed the economy and caused a social catastrophe.
These “gentlemen” (and “ladies”) have the nerve to tell us that if we say “no” to those who have caused the present social catastrophe, then we shall cause a disaster. It is these same liars who, from the very beginning, claimed that their policies would solve “our” problems, would bring growth and development and would “save” us. And on top of this, they humiliated and scorned us by calling us “lazy”, “corrupt” and “useless” people, who waste their money and their time.
Now, it’s time to give them the proper answer!
At the same time, we have to be clear that voting NO to the lenders, will mean the exit of the country from the Eurozone.
The transition from a strong international currency like the euro, to the drachma, the currency of a small economy, contains dangers. But these dangers can be met if the correct policies that break with the current, rotten system are applied.
The propaganda of the representatives of capital that a return to the drachma equals “entry into hell” is a huge lie on the part of those people who have turned lying into an art. Have these corrupt representatives of the establishment ever told the truth? So why believe them now?
Continuing on the capitalist road is the route to hell. Through a series of measures the Greek economy can stand back up on its feet, grow and begin to serve the interests of society instead of the profits of the plutocracy. Capital controls must be immediately imposed so as to stop big capital exporting its money and profits -in other words the wealth produced by our labour — abroad. There must be a limit put on weekly bank withdrawals, sufficient to cover the needs of working class families and small businesses, but with open books to prevent the capitalists emptying bank reserves.
And on 30 June, when we’re supposed to pay the IMF an additional €1.5 billion, we must say “we will not pay”. We have paid enough, this debt is not ours, we will not pay it!
There is no doubt that big capital will sabotage every attempt to put the economy back on its feet. Therefore it’s absolutely essential and urgent to nationalize the banking system i.e. to transfer the ownership, the control and the management of the banks to society. And then to nationalize the commanding heights of the economy under social and workers’ control and management. In this way, we could plan production and distribution for the needs of the laboring masses and not to have the economy function in the interests of the ship owners and the industrialists.
Today is a historic day! Look at the panic on the faces of the representatives of the ruling class and in the press statements of New Democracy, PASOK and “The River”! And rejoice!
For the worker, for the poor, the unemployed, the desperate, this is a great day! The smile can return to our faces!
But at the same time we must all demand from SYRIZA to not restrict the struggle to only one for a NO vote. We must march forward boldly and decisively, in order to take the power away from big capital; to have the commanding heights of the economy passed onto the hands of society; and proceed to the democratic planning of the economy through social and workers’ control and management, to finish once and for all with the plunder of our labour, the scandals, the corruption and theft.
With such bold socialist measures, we can bring back hope — and not only to the Greek people. We can become a catalyst for the peoples of Europe and the whole world.
The “Institutions” want “regime change” in Greece. They correctly fear that resistance in Greece to the ruling classes’ drive to make the working and middle classes pay for the crisis of capitalism will inspire similar movements throughout Europe. Their fear is correct. There is a great potential for the resistance from the Greek working people to set off similar movements in other countries. That is why the Irish, Portuguese and Spanish governments are so especially hostile to the Greek people: they fear for their own futures.
