Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed Friday during his new government’s first cabinet meeting that he wants to quickly implement measure needed for a third bailout, but would still push for ways to soften the blow of reforms on remaining open issues, including seeking debt reduction.Since his party secured a comfortable victory in weekend elections, Mr. Tsipras has charted a course of stability, renewing his coalition and sticking to a familiar cabinet lineup in a signal he would stick to a more conciliatory approach to his country’s creditors.“We have the obligation of a prompt implementation,” Mr. Tsipras said. “We are fully aware of the difficulties that lie ahead of us. But we have the way to find the antidote, where side effects will be created,” by continuing negotiations on remaining issues.Mr. Tsipras, first elected in January, abruptly reversed course on opposition to further austerity and agreed to a tough third bailout deal for up to €86 billion, a move seen as necessary to avoid a catastrophic exit from the eurozone. He called snap elections in August in a successful bid to jettison doubters in his party, securing a comfortable win and a mandate to push through the deal. His return to office is either an act of spectacular courage or of profound foolhardiness. Either way, brave or foolish, he is not going to fix Greece in the near future, especially with his majority much reduced, though workable.Greeks are already suffering swingeing levels of austerity and the prospect of yet more of the same fills nobody with sweetness and light. Corruption remains rampant and taxation — as in Pakistan — a major stumbling block. The lenders retain their lien on national sovereignty, and democracy is something of a thin firewall between the Euro-bankers and Greek governance. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the fiscal consolidation and reform programme was designed to fail, and Greeks are going to be expected to see their pensions and child benefits cut further, with banks foreclosing on property deals that are no longer sustainable, there being no money to support a credit line. The oligarchs of Greece are unlikely to be effectively tackled by a weakened Mr Tsipras, and even if debt relief is quickly transfused, the economy is so crippled that it will remain on life support for years. To add another layer of tragedy, Greece is the first port of call for the thousands of refugees fleeing the conflicts of the Levant. The number of refugees flowing in far exceeds the capacity of the Greek state to cater to their needs even though they are ‘in transit’ rather than looking to settle. A chalice of hemlock sits on the prime ministerial office desk.
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