A.Papariga on the actual crisis of the bipartisan system in Greece

Excerpts from an interview with the Greek mainstream paper TO VIMA on Sunday 10 February 2008 Answering a question regarding the opinion of KKE to set an end to the vicious political climate of the last period in Greece as well as ways to overcome the crisis A. Papariga stressed: “What we need is a counterattack by the popular forces to repel and overthrow the actual policy that targets the popular interests. This means disobedience, first of all at the working places, rejection of the new laws aiming at cutting social security rights, action for really higher wages and opposition to the “negotiations” promoted by GSEE for just a few more cents. It means struggling for a free of charge and exclusively public system of education, health and social security. Furthermore, it means giving a political content to the various demands. We urgently need a shift in the correlation of forces in trade unions and in political level. The question is to change not only the government, but also the actual implemented policy. Finally we need a coalition of popular forces able to carry out the fight and rule the country.

On the question if KKE is afraid to face an eventual government of coalition of different forces promoting a minimum program of anti-neoliberal goals, A. Papariga noted the following: “Options in favor of the European Union are incompatible with any concept of measures in favor of the popular strata”.

All those supporting the opposite have to answer questions like: How to increase salaries, how to stop the price explosion and the system of private education, how to reduce the pension age to 55 and 60 years when the “European one-way street” was actually formed in order to better serve the interests of the big monopolies and sharpen the exploitation of the workers? The “anti-neoliberal solutions” are ordinary traps. The example offered by Prodi’s government teach us how painful this type of “solutions” is regarding the popular demands, leaving at the same time the popular forces completely disarmed in the hands of the next managers of the bourgeois political system. It is always the same: after a “Prodi” the next is a “Berlusconi” and vice versa.

Another question was if the election of A.Tsipras at the leadership as president of Synaspismos will create any obstacles regarding the influence exercised by KKE.

“The role played by Synaspismos” answered A. Papariga “will not change by electing a new leader or by adopting a more leftist phraseology. Synaspismos was in the past a not reliable force, an “all weather” project and will remain so. The nucleus of the program and ideology of Synaspismos is a social-democratic one. This party, regarding the main direction, has not essentially big differences with PASOK. Nor will SYN succeed to become a “better PASOK”. They only think that Synaspismos, with its proposals and oscillations, is able to block popular forces to overpass forever the bipartisanism, to leave behind the political system. The tactic followed by Synaspismos aims at achieving cooperation with PASOK or with a sector of PASOK, in order to be able to jointly form a government for the country aiming at countering the popular demands.”