NEWS

SYRIZA slams plans for asset sales

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Greece?s main left-wing opposition party, on Saturday attacked the government?s privatization agenda, accusing the power-sharing administration of wanting to sell public assets and resources on the cheap.

The criticism came on the second day of the debate on the new government?s policy platform, which saw conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his finance minister pledge to kick-start privatizations and encourage private investment in a bid to pull the country out of its deep recession.

?The prime minister?s policy statement was nothing more than a ?for sale sign? put on Greece,? Tsipras told Parliament. ?The government will have to account for its actions, the looting of public goods,? he added, slamming Samaras for backpedaling on his pre-election pledge to renegotiate the country?s bailout deal with international lenders.

?The renegotiation of the memorandum finished on the evening of June 17,? he said, referring to the day of the election that saw ND win by a slim margin. ?Those who believed [Samaras] have been betrayed.?

In comments made to the Financial Times last week, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras appeared to suggest Greece had dropped its demand to ease the bailout terms. The government has not refuted the statements.

?The acknowledgment of the new finance minister that we cannot make any demand is the disastrous dogma of the new government,? Tsipras said.

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