Foreign inspection of Athens provokes opposition to new rescue agreement
ANGER in Greece has escalated over the country’s deal with its lenders – an agreement that will require changes to the Greek constitution, and see a foreign “task force” stationed in Athens to oversee conditional reforms and spending cuts.
Support for the main coalition parties, which led negotiations over the deal, has sunk in recent weeks and is expected to dip further after a series of protests that ended in violence and arson in the Greek capital.
Backing for the conservative New Democracy party dipped under 20 per cent in a recent poll by GPO, while PASOK fell to 13.1 per cent – both down around two percentage points since the end of last year.
Socialist parties that have spoken out against the bailout deal, such as the Left Coalition and the Democratic Left – have gained support.
The erosion of Greek sovereignty has led to some analysts to question whether the arrangement can be sustained.
Phillip Souta, head of Business for New Europe, said the deal had eliminated the risk of default, yet warned: “The deal however involves an unprecedented level of intervention in the running of Greece’s economy.
“It is impossible to know for certain if Greek society will be able to bear this,” Souta added.