Defiance and Charm: A Measured First Week for New Greek Leader
AP
Syriza's
victory in the recent Greek elections set off a wave of concern in
Europe. But even as the new prime minister tries to woo other leaders,
his left-wing government is already busy getting down to work. Many of
its first moves have been the right ones.
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Minister
of Administrative Reform Georgios Katrougalos sits cheerfully in his
new office and rejoices about his little revolution. He
has just announced that soon the first 3,500 public-sector employees
can return to work, including the famous cleaning ladies who led the
protest against job cuts. With their rubber-glove-clad clenched fists,
they embodied a feeling shared by many Greeks -- that they had been
mistreated by Europe. Now the cleaning ladies were becoming the symbol
of the new beginning.
According
to the administrative reform minister, these aren't new hires -- they
are the reversal of unfair layoffs. "The cleaning ladies were the
weakest, and the troika needed numbers." He claims this is primarily a
redress for the absurdity of the austerity measures. After they were let
go, the financial authority's 595 cleaning ladies -- who had to be
fired in September 2013 in order to fulfill the requirements of the
savings plan -- continued to receive 75 percent of their earnings. Their
work was then done by private cleaning companies -- in the end, the
whole thing was more expensive than it had been before. It was these
kinds of decisions by the previous government that had made the Greeks
furious -- and led them to vote for Syriza.
The
administrative reform minister is a counterpoint to Athens' new culture
of laxity, characterized by Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Giannis
Varoufakis, who like to appear tie-less in public. Katrougalos wears a
suit and a tie. He has given up his role in the European Parliament and
joined the government in order to reform the administration -- a
thankless task. He is a gambler, he says with a laugh. He loves
calculated risk. All of his friends had advised him against it. "But I
want to help shape the new beginning," he says, "and only a left-wing
party can tackle this kind of reform."
Katrougalos
says he wants to "break the system of patronage and clientilism." The
minister, who isn't affiliated with any political party, is
well-qualified for the job: He wrote his PhD about administrative reform
in Greece. He comes across as open, non-ideological and competent --
and he makes an effort to show that this new beginning will be different
than the previous ones, that he too wants to save money, but on the
backs of the politicians instead of the citizens. He wants to get rid of
about 70 percent of the official cars used by top officials. He has
removed the police surveillance in front of his ministry, because it
sends a "bad signal" and is unnecessary in any case. And he has cut
advisor positions -- which had previously often been granted as favors
-- in half.
A People Back in Movement
Something
has happened in Greece that has not happened like this anywhere else in
Europe: A handful of neophyte politicians, intellectuals and university
professors have taken over the government. It feels like a small
revolution instead of a handover of duties. And that's not only because
many members of the previous administration deleted their hard drives
and took their documents with them, or that there initially wasn't even
any soap in the government headquarters. No, the new government has
upended the rules of the Greek political system -- and spurred into
action a Europe that is still unsure how it should react to the rebels.
In
Athens you can also see the euphoria reflected in the city's traffic,
which is a yardstick for the crisis. The streets had often been half
empty, because fewer people were traveling to work, the gasoline was
expensive, the mood gloomy. But now the city center is just as clogged
as before. The people are once again in motion.
Even
though only 36 percent of voters chose Syriza, 60 percent of Greeks are
happy with new government's first few days. If there were new
elections, support for the party could grow and Tsipras could renounce
his coalition partner. Although he may be entertaining that scenario
privately, members of the government deny that it is in the cards. But
to maintain this enthusiasm, Tsipras now needs to show a real
accomplishment: an end of the German "austerity mandate." Which means
that he doesn't merely need to convince the Greeks, he needs to conquer
Europe.
For
this reason, Alexis Tsipras and his finance minister Giannis Varoufakis
have embarked on a roadshow -- Nicosia, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels
and, finally, Berlin. The trip will be a balance between defiance and
charm, and along the way he will be confronted with fears and a ticking
clock. The current aid program for Greece runs out at the end of
February, and on top of that, Greeks have withdrawn billions of euros
from their private savings accounts in the past several weeks.
Strong Words, Awkward Welcomes
At
first there was escalation. "Our country refuses to cooperate with the
troika," Varoufakis said last Friday to the head of the Euro Group,
Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Varoufakis smiled as a
waxy-seeming Dijsselbloem struggled to keep his composure. But the Greek
politician went on. The troika, he said, was a seedy, anti-European
construct. Dijsselbloem wanted to leave so quickly afterwards that he
almost forgot to shake Varoufakis' hand.
It's
a tone that Varoufakis has struck many times before. The economics
professor came up with the term "fiscal waterboarding" -- which he is
now using to hold austerity policies hostage. He sees himself as part of
a political avant-garde. He once described himself on his blog as
something like an "an atheist theologian ensconced in a Middle Ages
monastery."
Then
on Sunday, Varoufakis flew to Paris in order to meet his French
counterpart, Michel Sapin. Sapin greeted him warmly, but stayed firm. "A
debt cut is out of the question," he said. But it is, of course, he
said, in the common interest to structure the servicing of the debt in a
way that allows for growth. For the French, Syriza is a trial balloon
-- for whether deviations from the strict austerity measures will be
tolerated in the future.
The
two Greeks were greeted with many hugs and embraces during their
European tour, but it seemed more like a form of apology for the fact
that nobody wanted to back them up publically. After all, France and
Italy have paid for a large part of the aid money for Greece -- and have
little interest in cutting the country's debts. After the meeting,
President Francois Hollande sounded like the couple's therapist for the
Euro Zone: "I have received Tsipras, but I told him that he should visit
the chancellor. And she will receive him."
Tsipras
was also warmly received in Rome by his counterpart, Matteo Renzi, who
is the same age as the incoming Greek prime minister. He didn't hold
back in his praise for "Alexis" and his "message of hope." He claimed
that they share the belief that they can "change something" in politics.
But then Tsipras received a lecture in Realpolitik, carefully delivered
in plural: "We all together want to respect the rules." Things aren't
decided "between two premiers," he said -- they are decided in Brussels.
"Strong ties to European institutions," he claimed, are important.
At
each ensuing stop, the trip seemed less like a victory tour and more
like a visit to one's bourgeois relatives, where one can sleep in the
guest room, but must obey the house rules. The two Greeks' statements
became more moderate -- instead of a debt cut, they spoke about coupling
the service of the debt with growth. That way, Greece would presumably
never pay off its debts. But debt restructuring sounds more dependable.
It would be a face-saving compromise.
Work Begins Back Home
As
the austerity rebels traveled through Europe, their ministers settled
down to work in Athens. There were none of the signs of chaos and
collapse that the previous government had warned of. The new prime
minister was well prepared for the transition in power. On the day of
his election, he had already picked his cabinet -- pared down to just 10
ministers and 30 deputy ministers, including a few dozen independents
or members of other parties. Tsipras focused on expertise in assembling
his cabinet --largely relegating leftist ideologues to insignificant
positions.
Tspiras
hopes these steps can help him mobilize a broad majority in parliament
if, for example, there are problems with Anel, his right-wing coalition
partner. He is applying the same strategy to the election of the
country's president. Tsipras would like to see EU Commissioner Dimitris
Avramopoulos win. Greece's official on the EU executive has been a
confidant for years to Antonis Samaras -- the man Tsipras unseated as
prime minister. Avramopoulos wouldn't merely command respect in Europe,
he would also force Nea Dimokratia, the largest opposition party, to put
its votes behind a Syriza candidate.
"But
we have a lot of work ahead of us to get organized -- we still need
time," says Minister of State Alekos Flambouraris, whose position is
comparable to that of Merkel's chief of staff in Berlin. Filing shelves
and cabinets had been cleared out, he says, and, with the exception of a
few advertising brochures, there was nothing left in them. "Many
computers disappeared, data was deleted and offices were left empty and
deserted."
He
says the entire machinery of power had disappeared, because many who
worked here were fellow members of Samaras' party. Flambouraris doesn't
sound too sad about it either. He says he doesn't want to denounce the
old government, he just wants to do things differently. "It is not our
policy to dismiss staff and replace them with our own people the way
others have done," he says. "We no longer want a party state."
Flambouraris
is a pleasant man in his late sixties. Rather atypically for a Greek
politician, he's not a man of big words. He sits down wearing a polo
shirt and corduroy pants, with his blazer lying on a chair. His sparse
office is located directly next to Tsipras'. He comes across as relaxed,
even though he is running late. He says he had to tend to the needs to
some citizens. "If we are going to be the government that brings
salvation to the social system, then we need to talk to the people," he
says.
The
minister of state is a civil engineer by profession and a friend of the
Tsipras family. He was friends with Alexis Tsipras' father, and now is
also friends with his son. The prime minister's children call
Flambouraris "grandpa." Flambouraris is the most important person at the
government headquarters after Tsipras and he's also the prime
minister's closest confidant. Tsipras makes few decisions that haven't
been coordinated with him.
The
most important job that lies ahead is a complete restructuring of
agricultural production, says Flambouraris. As for the tourism sector,
he says the country needs to attract more individual travelers and
visitors to conferences. It all sounds very factual and conciliatory --
certainly not the words of a man who wants to turn the country on its
head. "We can't disappoint our voters," Flambouraris says in an almost
apologetic manner. "We ask the German people to understand these needs
and to see just how badly the Greek people have it," he says.
Flambouraris says the government needs support and that he is also
hoping to get some from Germany.
'I Will Not Tolerate Anti-Democratic Forces'
But
what kind of support would that be in concrete terms? Giannis Panousis,
65, the new citizen protection minister already has an idea. "It would
be great if the German government, for example, could give us 50 police
cars." Then he laughs -- of course it was a joke, but he wouldn't have
anything against getting 50 police cars either.
Panousis
used to be a professor of criminology at the University of Athens. Most
recently, he served in parliament as a member of the Democratic Left
party. He's sitting in his wood-paneled office. There's a wall filled
with historical books behind him. Although Syriza is calling for rules
that would prohibit police from carrying weapons during operations
involving the public, Panousis still thinks they should be armed. And
whereas Syriza supports dismantling the fortress-like border fence along
the Evros River, which forms the natural border between Greece and
Turkey, Panousis opposes the move. "Many of my proposals are not
identical to those in the party platforms," the professor says. "I hope I
am able to convince the government," he says.
And
if not? "I'm not a career politician," he says. "After 30 years in
academics, it's not a question of how long I can stay on as minister;
it's how I can put years of research into practice."
For
him, that means taking action to ensure that the police force, which
has been far too close to the neofascists of the Golden Dawn party, gets
back on track. And Panousis is uniquely situated to tackle the problem.
"All the police leaders were students of mine," he says. He even
threatened to take another, closer look at the final examination of one
police officer, he says, laughing. The issue, he argues, isn't about
censoring his police officers' private political opinions. But "within
democratic institutions, I will not tolerate anti-democratic forces."
His
first act was to remove the barriers in front of parliament and the
police vans in front of the ministries. He says the move marked the
start of the "reconciliation of the people with the police and the
police with the people." He adds that improved democratic monitoring of
the police is needed, better training and neighborhood police forces
that are closer to the people. Many of these measures, don't cost
anything -- they just require a willingness to change something, he
says.
Incremental Changes
Many
of the things the government announced during the first days were
symbolic acts. The increase to the minimum wage, the cleaning ladies,
Christmas bonuses for pensioners and food aid. In their first moves,
Tsipras and his ministers focused on their main priorities: new
negotiations over the country's austerity policy and the battle against
the "humanitarian crisis." Ultimately, though, the question of whether
the rich are taxed more heavily will be decisive for any success. It
will depend on whether the government in Athens finally takes action on a
spreadsheet provided by then French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde
in 2010 that includes over 2,000 Greek accounts at Swiss banks that
potentially belong to tax evaders. Previous governments had delayed such
action. There are also lists of doctors who have declared annual
earnings of just a few thousand euros.
Labor
Minister Panos Skourletis, an economist and until now the spokesman for
Syriza, says he can sense a "feeling of emotion and pride about the
collective success." He says he still has vivid memories of when the
party captured only 4.6 percent of votes in the 2009 election. He served
as the party's speaker at the time. Back then, he says, he wouldn't
even have dared to think the party could secure 36 percent of votes.
Skourletis
acted modestly during his first days in office. He wants to strengthen
collective bargaining agreements and bolster protections against
dismissal. It's a kind of political pragmatism reminiscent of the first
steps taken by Germany's Green Party when it became part of the
government in 1998. Back then, the party's more centrist elements -- and
not its fundamentalist ones -- were also in control. This isn't a
surprise -- Tsipras needs an early success in his negotiations with the
EU, and for that to happen, his government has to seem predictable.
That's
why Skourletis now says, "We never said tomorrow," of the increase in
the minimum wage from €586 to €751, which actually should have taken
place "immediately." "We said we need a comprehensive package, so that
companies aren't forced to carry the costs on their own."
When asked when the increase in the minimum wage will now come, he says, "We'll see."
Is an incremental increase conceivable, step by step?
The minister grins. "We'll see."
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