Kouvelis Facing Democratic Left Mutiny On Cuts

Greek Democratic Left (DIMAR) party leader Fotis Kouvelis’ decision to renege on campaign promises to protect workers, the poor and elderly and support more harsh austerity measures on them has sparked a mini-rebellion in the party, with several of his 17 parliamentary members saying they will vote against a new package of $14.6 billion in spending cuts.
Kouvelis is now under intense pressure which could be building as his party has sunk to only 4 percent in the polls, just one percent above the threshold needed to win seats in Parliament. The far-right LAOS party paid a price in a previous shaky coalition government for supporting austerity when it was rejected by voters and failed to get back into the Parliament at the June 17 elections.
Kouvelis and PASOK Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos – whose party has fallen to about 8 percent – both reversed their campaign pledges so that they could join an uneasy coalition government with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the New Democracy Conservative leader and are feeling the wrath of the electorate as protests and strikes have begun and a general strike is set for Sept. 26.
Yiannis Micheloyiannakis, a Democratic Left Member of Parliament from Crete, said he will break the new party line and vote against Kouvelis and more austerity measures. Traditionally, MP’s who do not follow orders on how to vote are tossed out of the party. Micheloyiannakis said the opposition in the party is growing because the Leftists believe Kouvelis has broken with its principles to support measures benefiting banks and capitalists.
“DIMAR is divided,” Micheloyiannakis said. “Within the next few days three MPs, 18 members of the central committee and 23 members of local organizations will hold a congress as a movement to explain our positions.”
Kouvelis campaigned on a platform of opposing deep cuts to pensions and salaries and insisting these could be replaced with equivalent measures involving savings produced by public sector reforms. He has still said that he believes Samaras is being too tough on society’s most vulnerable sectors but has not said whether he will ultimately support the Premier and give him his party’s votes.
Samaras barely won the last elections and needed the votes of PASOK and DIMAR to gain control of the Parliament and despite burgeoning resistance is still expected to get the tough new measures passed easily as Greece’s international lenders have said they will cut off rescue loans unless he does.
Coming out of a meeting with Samaras, Venizelos and top finance officials, Kouvelis attacked the lenders, the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) for not recognizing the limits of Greek society. Sources said the newspaper Kathimerini, however, that his position is intended to rebuff criticism from leftist SYRIZA that he has not provided any resistance to the cuts and to convince his own party’s MPs that he is trying to stick to the party’s pledges.
Kouvelis is said to have expressed to the other two coalition leaders his opposition to raising the retirement age to 67, cuts to low pensions and reductions to civil servants’ pay and the layoff and eventual firing of 35,000 workers. In a further sign he may be losing control of the party, 15 DIMAR lawmaker abstained from a vote in Parliament on a vote concerning port development and two, including Micheloyiannis, voted against it. The law passed with 151 votes in favor, a one-vote majority in the 300-member body.