NEWS

SYRIZA slams troika deal, calling it a ‘public relations stunt’

Leftist opposition SYRIZA has slammed a government deal with the troika of foreign lenders earlier this week calling it a “public relations stunt” designed to prevent a conservative defeat in the coming elections.

In a statement Thursday, the party said that the share of the primary surplus – which Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said will be distributed to help more than 1 million needy Greeks, including security forces personnel – will be far smaller than the agreed 70 percent.

Also SYRIZA, which is polling ahead of the conservatives ahead of local and European Parliament elections, accused the government of planning to introduce fresh austerity measures after the twin ballot in May.

According to the agreement, which was concluded after seven months of negotiations, an additional 1 billion euros will go toward paying off the state’s internal debts — for goods and services received from the Greek private sector. Delay in introducing this measure, SYRIZA said Thursday, had done serious damage to the Greek economy.

“Far from signaling the end of the memorandum,” the party statement said, the agreement amounts to a “conspiracy between the troika and the government against the Greek people with the aim of avoiding disaster in the coming elections.”

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