Joint Statement by Greek Political Party Leaders

Following the result of yesterday’s referendum, where the Greek people responded with a resounding ‘NO’ to a highly ambiguous (and void) question, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a meeting with the rest of the political leadership in the country. After making his request official yesterday night, at the President of the Democracy, Prokovios Pavlopoulos, the President called the meeting earlier today at the Maximos Building.

What follows is the joint statement released after the conclusion of the meeting, translated in English. You can find the original statement (in Greek), here. Updates (perhaps) to follow, as more info comes in.

 

After a request by the Prime Minister Mr. Alexis Tsipras, the President of the Democracy Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos, convened today, 6^th of July 2015 and time 10:00, a meeting of the Political Leaders of the Parties represented in the Hellenic Parliament, under his Presidency.

In the meeting participated:

• The Prime Minister, Mr. Alexis Tsipras.
• The transitional Leader of New Democracy, in his capacity as leader of the Opposition, Mr. Evangelos Meimarakis.
• The Head of “To Potami” party, Mr. Stavros Theodorakis.
• The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Mr. Dimitrios Koutsoumbas.
• The President of the Independent Greeks, Mr. Panagiotis Kammenos.
• And the President of PASOK, Mrs. Fofi Genimata.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister proceeded in informing the Political Leaders regarding the initiatives he intends to immediately undertake, after the result of yesterday’s referendum. Consequently, the Political Leaders expressed their individual proposals. At the end of the meeting, the Political Leaders – with the reservation of the overall disagreement of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, Mr. Dimitris Koutsoumbas, which was registered in detail in the proceedings of the meeting – resulted in the following joint statement:

“The recent verdict of the Greek people does not comprise a mandate of rupture, but a mandate for continuing and strengthening the effort of achieving a socially just and economically sustainable agreement. Towards this direction, the Government assumes the responsibility of continuing the negotiations. And each Political Leader will contribute, respectively, within the framework of his/her institutional and political role. The common goal is to seek a solution that will ensure:

• The adequate coverage of the financing needs of the Country
• Reliable reforms, based on the criterion of the just distribution of burdens and the promotion of development, with the least possible recessionary effects.
• Powerful, front-loaded, growth program, first and foremost for combatting unemployment and for the encouragement of entrepreneurship.
• A commitment towards the beginning of substantive discussion on dealing with the problem of the sustainability of the Greek public debt.

Immediate priority is to restore the liquidity in the financial system, in consultation with the ECB. The Prime Minister has promised to inform the Political Leaders, immediately after the forthcoming EU Summit, for the first conclusions to be drawn and for the overall progress of the negotiations.”