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The President
Mr. Wilfried Martens
President of the European People’s Party
Dear Mr. President,
As I have already indicated to you, I find it necessary to inform my EPP colleagues on the current situation in Greece . Recent developments have put at great risk the European Council’s decisions of October 26th regarding the sustainability of the Greek debt.
Nea Demokratia actively intervened to neutralize all imminent dangers: the “referendum” was scrapped, Mr. G. Papandreou was asked to resign as Prime Minister and a new interim Government was formed with the participation of Nea Demokratia and the party of LAOS .
This Government will push forward for the ratification of the October 26th decisions and call for general elections on February 19th 2012.
We believe that the new Prime Minister, Mr. L. Papademos, - Vice President of the ECB until last year - and the broad party base of the new Government, will help rebuild the credibility of Greece in Europe . The new Government enjoys strong parliamentary support in the Hellenic Parliament with the exception of the MPs from the parties of the left.
We also believe that the general elections will have a soothing effect on the Greek society, relieving political pressures and averting major social turmoil.
In fact, as stated in the meeting of the three Party Leaders under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic C. Papoulias: “it has been agreed upon that the task of the new Government will be to materialize the decisions taken at the European Council of October 26th 2011 and to implement the economic policies linked to those decisions”.
The new Prime Minister has already pledged to fulfill this task.
Nea Demokratia is committed to support the new Prime Minister.
Nea Demokratia is strongly committed to the success of fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, rebuilding market confidence and fostering economic growth.
Nea Demokratia fully supports the targets of fiscal adjustment, regarding all issues on eliminating the deficit and reversing the debt dynamics; it also supports “tools” already implemented (albeit poorly); namely, public expenditure cutting, fighting tax evasion, structural reforms, privatization programs and capitalizing on idle real estate public property.
On the evidence of the budget execution so far, we believe that certain policies have to be modified, so as to guarantee the Program’s success. This is more so, since according to the latest European Economic forecasts, Greece in 2012 will be the only European country with 5 consecutive years in recession!
We intend to bring these issues to discussion, along with viable policy alternatives, strictly within the framework outlined by the Program. We give great emphasis to allowing for prompt recovery, so that public revenues generated will help us achieve the targets set.
We also attribute special emphasis to the implementation procedures which have to be streamlined and upgraded.
The commitment of the Greek people and of Nea Demokratia to the European Union and the Euro is strong and irrevocable.
Nea Demokratia believes that Greece can get out of the crisis and safeguard its social cohesion.
We are committed to make that happen.
Sincerely,
Antonis C. Samaras
President of Nea Demokratia