GREECE’ S UNLAWFULL LOAN RESTRAINTS

AND THE POLITICAL SOLUTION

THE POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STATE’ S WEALTH

Α. Introduction. Giving prominence to the significance of Greece’s wealth.

Mikis Theodorakis, unwearied and indomitable in his continuing struggle for Greece, -the struggle of a lifetime- remaining, to this day, youthful and undaunted by the adversities of age and health but mostly by the hostility of the authority system he has long been combating against; has diagnosed the immense political importance Greek wealth holds to the state’s creditors and to the global centres of power coveting the “wealth of nations” as well as to Greece itself as an element of its potency of resistance against scheming.

The present movement of this Great Greek serves a twofold purpose:

Firstly, to enlightenevery Greek citizen about the criminal treachery that is the cruel lending scheme of the “Memoranda”, in the effort of converting them into the mighty fist that will subvert it;

           Secondly, to demonstrate to the Greek people their strength of independently standing in the international community; strong and sovereign, free from the pauperisation, dependency and subservience brought about by the nefariousness and incompetence of past governments.

Through Mikis Theodorakis’s major initiative, his call for resistance, -declared through the founding of “Spitha” and the “Independent Citizens’ Movement” on 1st December 2010 against the unlawful cruel terms of Greece’s loan agreements (“Memoranda”) through which our creditors in collaboration with the Greek governments subjugated the state and pauperised its people- is followed up today by a second stage: the establishing of its factual foundation.

In this further stage, our Movement, with the aid of a group of distinguished scholars, proceeds to provide the Greek people with evidence as to the motivation behind the conclusion of the opprobrious loan agreements that utterly abolished Greece’s sovereignty and subjugated the Greek people as well as the reason why we insist on the need for resistance of all Greeks against this type of servitude.

We will bring to light the wealth of the country, its economic and political power envied by economic and political forces of crisis mongering; through which Greece can exist as a free and independent state as part of the contemporary developed world.

Β. The encumbrance set on the total of public property.

1. 1.A first outline.

As we had revealed in June 2010 and have been emphasizing since, the basic loan agreement of 2010 (1st Memorandum) and the draft agreement voted by the Parliament (2nd Memorandum) set an encumbrance on the total of public property for the benefit of the creditors thus diminishing Greece’s independence.

            a. The concept of encumbrance in the “Memoranda”.

Many doubt the extent of encumbrance unable to conceive how all state property has been or was possible of being encumbered. Nonetheless, it has been. We are facing, thus, a complete encumbrance on the total of state property.

i. By “total of public property” we mean that each and every public asset has been encumbered: real estate, movable assets, moneys, securities and immaterial assets as well as management and exploitation rights and every type of property and contractual rights; in general, all existing or future rights of economic value. The hereinabove rights include: all sources of mineral and subsea wealth (minerals, hydrocarbons etc.), either known or yet undiscovered, high quality agricultural products, natural features of outstanding aesthetic value (seashores, islands, climate, sunlight etc.), renewable energy sources (solar, wind power etc) as well as a historical heritage of immeasurable value.

ii. By “complete encumbrance”, we meanthat the Greek state is left with no right to the exploitation of its property as long as the loan (plus interest) has been fully settled; at the same time the block of property remaining in the hands of the creditors is essentially lost either definitively or for the decades to come.

            b. The terms of encumbrance on state assets.

We shall now proceed to contemplate the three main terms emerging in both “Memoranda”, through which the total encumbrance on state wealth and the country itself was contrived, rendering Greece a subordinate state under occupation:

(i) The general encumbrance on the Greek state’s property[1].

(ii) The waiver by the state of all rights in protection of its sovereignty and property entrenched in the Greek Constitution and international law (immunities)[2].

(iii) The English law clause.

(i)The Greek state is prohibited from awarding to anyone, besides those appointed or approved by the creditors, any type of right to the utilisation of public property assets or from providing such assets as loan security.

Greece, therefore, cannot be part of any economic contract or transaction with other states or (domestic or foreign) legal persons (companies, financial institutions, organisations, foundations etc.), which would entail the utilisation of property assets nor of any loan agreement dependent on Greece’s collateralised with liens on state property.

(ii) In order to ensure that no property or economic right would be exempt from the hereinabove encumbrance provision, the two “Memoranda” contain the following –unprecedented in the contemporary history of sovereign lending- clause:

A waiver of all rights to the protection of property established in the Greek Constitution and in international law provisions (“immunities” in legal terminology), among which the waiver of all rights to the protection of state sovereignty are expressly mentioned.

The above clause implies that Greece’s creditors can extend their demands to assets directly linked to safeguarding state sovereignty and integrity, as well as assets the protection of which is established in international law and the Greek Constitution.

(iii) The third term is the clause providing for the governing of the loan agreements by English law.

The affiliation of the loan agreements to English law makes the abolishment of rights awarded to borrower-states in the civilised world complete. And this is because English law is based on the principle that loan contracts between states are not governed by international law but rather by private law. They are governed by the exact same law provisions reserved for private lending contracts and thus no protection of the borrower state through international law provisions or the Constitution can be acknowledged. Moreover, in English law the borrower-state is not even awarded the protection that a private borrower enjoys in the private law of Continental Europe and in Greek law as well. In the colonial mentality English law portrays, the borrower –entirely at the lender’s mercy- is bound to fall prey to his designs, as in the case of the borrower falling prey to the usurer Shylock in Shakespeare’s tragic comedy “The merchant of Venice”.

Considering the above basic terms of the “Memoranda”, it is made clear that Greece –according to the will of our creditors, approved and signed by our governments- even in the event of being consistent with loan payments, is prohibited from utilizing its public property by concluding economic agreements with other countries or undertakings, which would obviously demand an encumbrance on Greek public assets to the benefit of third parties.

This commitment will be applicable during the time Greece’s obligations from the “Memoranda” are in force, while the state’s property will be in the hands of its group of creditors for the indefinite future.

This first outline of the basic terms of our loan agreements leads to the conclusion that the above encumbrance does not just place a constraint on state assets but also on the state itself.

            c. Examples illustrating the effects of the absolute encumbrance.

To effectively clarify the notion of “total encumbrance on state property” we will make use of the following examples:

(1st example) Should Greece’s creditors wish to sequestrate the border region of Evros, which is also a defence zone, or public real property in the island of Kastellorizo due to Greece not having been able to make a loan payment; or should they wish to buy or rent the said land through the “Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund” (hereinafter “the Fund”) created for the transferring of public property to private parties, the fact that those particular regions of Greece are of paramount significance to its sovereign status and its territorial integrity will not matter in the least. And this is because Greece through the “Memoranda” waived, for the benefit of its creditors, rights majorly contributing to the protection of its national sovereignty.

(2nd examples) Should Greece’s creditors wish to sequestrate large amounts of public funds deposited in the Bank of Greece due to the government not having been able to make a loan payment or should a multinational company appointed by the creditors wish to exploit a wealth resource (e.g. rare or precious metal mines in the Delphi or Olympia areas) through the “Fund” so that the total of revenue gained by the said activity goes directly to the creditors’ hands -while in the meantime minimum standards of living for the Greek people or the state’s minimum defence provisions have been compromised- Greece cannot raise any objections because English law does not acknowledge an emergency clause in the case that a delay in payment is caused due to severe economic necessity for the serving of state’s defensive needs or for providing dignified living conditions for the Greek people.

Furthermore, any judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) based in Luxembourg –competent for the resolution of any disputes arising from the 2nd Memorandum- against Greece will be immediately executable, while the Greek state will not have the right to raise any objections on the merits.

(3rd example) Should a Greek entrepreneur wish to start off an undertaking and accumulate the necessary funds for the utilization and exploitation of a wealth source (e.g. hydrocarbons) without involving the “Fund” so that the revenue or part of it ends up enforcing the state budget, he or she cannot obtain the necessary license without it firstly having been approved by our creditors. According to the “Memoranda” and the “Implementation law” which we will subsequently comment on, the choice of undertaking involved in the exploitation of wealth sources as well as the total of expected revenue have both been conceded to Greece’s creditors.

(4th example) Should the Greek state itself wish to establish state or mixed-owned undertakings for the exploitation of any state wealth source (e.g. hydrocarbons), with the aim of extracting revenue, it will have to take into consideration the following terms: (a) essentially constituting newfound public property, the said undertaking will also have to be considered an encumbered state asset (b) this new state asset or its revenue can be expropriated through the “Fund” for the benefit of our creditors, as will be described hereinafter.

1. 2.Taking a closer look on the absolute encumbrance on public property and the country itself.

Assessing the abovementioned terms, it is not difficult to reach the conclusion that they constitute a total encumbrance on the state and its wealth.

a. The absolute encumbrance on public property throughout the basic contracts of the two “Memoranda”.

It is rational for loan agreements in general to be collateralised by setting an encumbrance on certain of the borrower’s assets sometimes bearing double or triple the value of the secured loan. This is considered standard practice.

Instead, in the present case, a general, absolute encumbrance on all state property was imposed. Even this concession, however, was not enough to satisfy the craving of our creditors and the power centres directing their actions: Instead of the total encumbrance being designed to enter into force in the case that Greece would not be able to or would opt out of paying back its debt, in order to secure a judicial resolution of the matter, it was imposed in a general fashion and independently from Greece settling its loan payments or not.

Thus, the transfer of elements of the encumbered state property from the Hellenic state to companies favoured by the creditors and their overseers could commence –and has indeed commenced- for the settling of the loans before they have even matured.

This is essentially made possible through the infamous “Fund” and the process provided for in the “Implementation Law” (no. 3986/1.7.2011). This, of course means that, even after having settled its loans, Greek state property will have been lost to the state, with multinational companies able to prolong their exploitation of it. The same applies to the waiver of “immunities” (and rights pertaining to state sovereignty). Reasonably a waiver should only concern types of judicial pursuit and the forced execution of relevant judgments –as is usually the case- however, to what concerns Greece it appears broader, covering every process having to do with settling the state’s sovereign loans. The waiver, thus, also applies to the process of settling the loans of the “Implementation Law” we mentioned earlier. 

            b. The “non-securitization of loans” and the “Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund”.

The fraudulent generality of the set encumbrance is confirmed by two more facts clearly demonstrating the cruel nature of the “Memoranda”:

(i) First of all, the statement explicitly included in all loan agreements, characterising the loans as “unsecured (!) obligations of the Borrower”. If the condition of encumbrance on the totality of public property was to secure only the settling of the loans given, there would be no need for the “unsecured” clause; reasonably leading us to the conclusion that the general restriction imposed was to provide securitisation for a variety of different things, things which will be further discussed hereinafter.

The provision of the “Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement” specifying that loans were to be considered “unsecured obligations” is quite characteristic. We emphasize on that clause of a declaratory nature, appearing in both “Memoranda”, because it brings to light the fact that the vicious intentions of subjugating Greece are often portrayed as fallacious declarations of “good will” and “solidarity”. The above clause implies that the loan is considered a not specifically collateralised obligation of the Hellenic Republic, thus, in the event of default; creditors shall have a general claim over Greece’s assets along with all other existing or future unsecured lenders.

However, immediately following the clause about “unsecured” and “benevolent” lending, there is the previously mentioned term setting an encumbrance on the total of Greece’s public property and, subsequently, sovereignty.

(ii)  The second clause, proving that the encumbrance on state property is general and independent from the settling of our loans, is the - unique in the history of sovereign lending - “ Implementation Law” for the “Medium Term Plan” of July 1st 2011, mentioned earlier[3].

This opprobrious law, voted by the Greek Parliament, which we have repeatedly spoken against is, in essence, the implementing law of the total encumbrance on public property. It actually regulates the terms of definitive or long-term expropriation (or, in layman’s terms, the “selling off”) of Greek public property, without the carrying out of an international tender, for a degrading price offering no compensation to the Greek state, with no guarantee of transparency while employing procedures of an exploitative character. The “Implementation Law” of the so called “Fund” declares that all revenue from the exploitation of Greek public property will be immediately channeled “within ten days” (!) to a special account for the settling of the loans; however it does not provide –and neither would our creditors wish it to provide- for the return of assets to the Greek state after the settling of our loans. The expropriation of public property will, thus become a permanent state.

Furthermore, we should note another relevant aspect: the continuing increase in the level of Greece’s excessive sovereign loans. It is therefore becoming all the more clear that the main objective of the centers of power imposing the cruel “Economic Adjustment Program” pauperizing the Greek people and subverting the country’s economy, is not to achieve the viability of Greek debt but the perpetuation of a status of excessive borrowing, inability of recovery and turn towards development; so that the predatory, exploitative utilization of invaluable Greek public assets is maintained; a predatory scheme eagerly enacted

by our own Parliament through the “Implementation Law”[4].

All the above lead us to the obvious conclusion that the unprecedented terms, imposed by our creditors through the loan agreements with the aid of Greek governments that set a lien on the total of public property and the country itself, were not employed as a means of collateralizing the country’s loans which could easily have been securitized through traditional methods such as prenotation of mortgage, liens on property, or specific guarantees. They were employed in the pursuit of altogether different objectives.

C. What are the objectives of the total encumbrance on Greece and its public property?

1. 1.The objectives

Objectives are easily and rationally deducible by the terms of encumbrance themselves. There appear two main and central aims:

(a) Setting Greece under absolute political and economic custody and

(b) Securing the exclusive exploitation of the total of state wealth sources.

Let’s take a closer look on the hereinabove two fundamental objectives:

     (a) The first objective: A political and economic custody entails many forms of subjugation and dependency:

- It guarantees the integration of Greece in a very specific political group of states (block).

- It enforces the regional geopolitical objectives of the block’s power players.

- It manipulates the resolution of Greece’s national agenda to better conform with the interests of the block’s leading states.

- It renders Greece politically dependent on the economically powerful states of the said block.

- It leads the country to surrender to the authority of the super-national financial system.

- It experiments on the creation of a new world order.

(b) The second objective: guaranteeing the exploitation of wealth and property of the Greek state:

The present objective could easily form part of the first one. We opt to view it separately as it is set mostly to directly serve the creditors’ interests and only indirectly to further deepen the state’s dependency. Indeed the revenue extracted from public property exploitation will be channeled within ten days, through the “Fund” to a special account exclusively for the settling of the loans.

It is evident that all the said objectives presuppose and entail an absolute subjugation of the state, to the extent that Greece nowadays, with the total violation and the control over the state and its sovereignty; with the actual abolition of the political system and the fundamental rights’ infringements; the measures of pauperization of the majority of society and elimination of the middle class as well as the deterioration of national economy, Greece is a completely dependent state under occupation.

1. 2.The experiment

We should note at this point that the goal of setting Greece under economic and political custodyconstitutes a multifaceted play by supranational centers of political and economic authority, in the course of which Greece is the bloody, animate object of experimentation and its people the guinea pig for situations of complete abolition of national sovereignty along with democratic and international lawfulness.

The new world order experiment is carried out in three separate planes: The first plane consists of quashing democratic legality and the international rule of law formulated postwar through the molding experience of World War II. In this framework, the aim is to abolish the general principles of civic democracy, the principle of the protection of human value and human rights respectively as well as the principles of the rule of law and the welfare state, as they have been molded in the auspices of civic democracy and traditional capitalism.

The second plane relates to the deterioration of national sovereignty concluding to a full abolishment of the notion of a national state. National states today are not eliminated, as expected, through globalization of political societies (the people) and to the benefit of the social development of humanity, albeit through the imperialistic globalization imposed by capitalists.

The third and final plane consists of the imposition of the new financial system over political authority.

The planes of the experiment described above are mirrored precisely in the situation we’ve all been experiencing since May 2010:

-                     Unlawful and invalid international treaties, agreements, decisions and practices, which have not been ratified according to the Constitution and the requirements of international law, but nonetheless are being imposed by means of economic and political violence in severe violation of the EU Treaties.

-                     Cruel austerity policies causing vast unemployment and pauperization of the weakest social classes; blatantly, cynically and ruthlessly violating human value, flagrantly infringing on human and political rights, employment rights, social rights, economic and professional rights; disbanding the state, its welfare and healthcare system, its education, science, research and culture.

-                     Policies of recession radically disbanding the small-to-medium economic classes, weakening national markets, enterprises and financial institutions; rendering them prey to supranational capital.

-                     Corruption and demoralization of politicians, as well as politics itself along with its mission.

-                     Corruption and silencing in the media, subjugation of journalism functionaries.

-                     Corrosion and gradual deconstruction of the country’s social fabric causing its foremost asset of growth and development, its young generation- to resort to immigration.

The illustrated experiment is the historic offspring of a global crisis of the sociopolitical system, caused and sustained by the power centers of modern capitalism currently in the final stage of evolution of its imperialistic power; of capitalism which is a profit-oriented financial system functioning unrestrained, fully applying the principles of neo-liberalism, over and above the system of employment and production; of capitalism which for the first time in the history of humanity, fully imposed economic authority over even the most powerful political entities and systems on the planet and the whole of civilization.

The ultimate aim of this experiment’s success is not just economic profit for the centers of capitalist authority. Powerful states, players in the game of world domination, such as the USA and Germany aim towards both economic and political –mainly geopolitical- profits.

Historical causality imposed that this experiment, testing the peoples’ perseverance in subjugation and barbarity be conducted in Europe, the continent whence came what is best and also stemmed what is worst. Should the experiment succeed in Europe, despite the ironclad democratic resistance, its dark purposes are bound to prevail around the globe.

It is a historical tragic irony that the cradle of global civilization should be willing to nurture its murderer.

D. The grave danger for Greece should it continue to apply the “Memoranda” program.

1. Propaganda and silencing of the Media.

It is has been, at last, made known today; the criminal scheming for the subjugation of Greece had commenced earlier than 2009, to serve the purposes previously mentioned.

Since that time, and in contribution to the experiment’s success and the achieving of the vicious objectives attached to Greece’s sovereign lending, a cataclysm of lies, deceit and psychological violence aimed at the Greek people has begun, of which it is hard to find an equivalent example in our recent history.

This type of lying, deceit and psychological extortion can only remind us of the time fascism and National Socialism was prevalent in Europe.

The whole authority system behind the experiment, actively takes part in this “sport” of deceit and extortion: Political authorities, EU member-states’ politicians and media, institutions of the EU and the Euro-zone, political parties and leaders along with powerful media.

The infamous “shock doctrine” and all methods of psychological violence, generation of social guilt and disorientation, all types of lying and silencing of the truth have constituted and continue to constitute the daily practice of supporting and imposing the opprobrious “Economic Adjustment Program” and the vicious lending scheme named “Memoranda”.

In this colossal attempt of supporting the grand experiment, certain motifs of disseminated lying have been formulated: the lie of utter elimination (“catastrophe shall strike should we not conform to the terms of the Memoranda.”); the lie of the Memoranda being the sole solution (“there is no other solution”); the lie of the EU and the IMF being the only source of financial support on the planet; the lie of the risk of an uncontrolled default; the lie of Greece’s exit from the Euro-zone; the lie that should the next installment of the loan not be disbursed, it would subsequently lead to the immediate demise of Greece due to suffocation and of its people due to famine; the lie of the loss of our deposits…

All this –and much more- are political lies aimed at brainwashing and propagandizing authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. They were introduced as neither more or less possible dangers nor as more or less founded consequences of political alternatives but rather as threats of immediate death and destruction. They constituted political lies of propaganda for they were introduced to establish a lie of grand proportions that has already been acknowledged as such: The lie of “facilitation” for the benefit of Greece. Finally, the constituted political lies for they were instituted based on a steel fortress of dissemination of lies, de facto eliminating any kind of deliberative dialogue and opportunity for diverse suggestions.

Through the above extensive lying, a communicational monologue in favour of the “Memoranda” was instituted, which, for the last year and a half has been gradually amplified by a centripetal, introverted and often intense oppositional rhetoric, which defuses any resistance whatsoever and practically enforces the system. This system, artistically promoted by the most powerful of media and mainly through the daily press, is actively aided by intellectuals expressing their views in public, complacently flaunting their so-called “resistance” activity with false and superficial argumentation against the “Memoranda”, as a credible alibi. The worst of all being that this centripetal system has started to integrate the few existing small media who started out as genuinely contra the "Memoranda” as well as the political rhetoric of contra-Memoranda political organizations.

We should remark, in any case, that the genuine speech against the Memoranda, making suggestions and uncovering truths, has been and continues to be utterly restricted from the mass media.

To occupy oneself with the process of falsifying the above lies –the false nature of which is gradually being self-exposed- should easily devolve into an introverted opposition in the benefit of the system, such as was described above. It is for this reason that it is considered more useful, instead of the false threats the Greek people are bombarded with as a means of extortion, to give prominent attention to the true threats that Greece faces from the policies our creditors and their Greek associates insist on imposing.

In an article I published in the newspaper “To Paron” in 22nd July 2012 I had emphasized on a twofold risk posing a genuine and long-term threat to Greece: the loss of national wealth and the imposition of a controlled (by our creditors) default.

These two dangers, in reality, are interconnected as the second also precludes the first and leads to a pauperized, underdeveloped Greece, subservient for the years to come. Thus, we shall proceed to view the danger of an (imposed) controlled default.

2. The danger of imposition of a controlled default.

Our creditors and governments, in order to make us succumb to their unlawful and cruel demands, have invented a means of economic extortion embodied in the threat that: Greece, should it not conform with the terms of the present program of the “Memoranda”, shall default on its debts due to the non-continuation of financial aid, it will consequently exit the Euro-zone and Greeks will lose any bank deposits they may have.

They, however, never presented us with an explanation about how the above are destined to happen. The reasons why no explanation has yet been provided are double:

1. a.The first reason is: If Greece itself does not so wish, it cannot be coerced into leaving the Euro-zone. Such an expulsion would, additionally, breach European and International law while the foundation of the European Union would also be visibly shaken. But even in the event of a forced exit, the proper means to do so do not exist. Moreover, if it is not in Greece’s interests, will there ever be a Greek government to consign on the exit? (Based on our recent experience, the latter has actually become quite plausible…)
2. b.The second reason is: should a forced exit become a reality, whether it consequently leads to an uncontrolled default or not, the loan agreements will cease to be valid, bringing about an entirety of consequences for our creditors. Thus; creditors will lose the cover of existing loan agreements, their plans to appropriate Greece’s public property, and the loss of a member of their economic block –all this in conjunction with the domino effect a Greek exit will cause in the economies of Europe, the US and the whole world.

3. What is the present situation?

Another thing our creditors, our governments and the mass media avoid informing us about is: What has been the state of the Greek economy since May 2010? Is it a state of mere economic difficulty, a state of transient recession or a state of default, and if so, what type of default: an economically controlled one, a politically controlled one, or an uncontrolled default?

I cannot fathom anyone supporting today that Greece is not in a state of default under the full control of our creditors. Each and every one of the terms of sovereign default are applicable in the cruelest and most inhuman manner, largely surpassing the usual and permissible limits set by international law:

- Surpassing of all minimum and indispensable standards of dignified subsistence of the Greek people (violation of the minimum standard of dignified living.)

- Infringement of elementary standards of healthcare, education, employment, and, in general, the minimum of basic needs in a contemporary society.

- The absolute abolition of the economic and political independence of the Greek state and the restriction of its national sovereignty above and beyond the lawful minimum limits set by the Greek Constitution, the Treaties of the European Union and International Law.

- The absolute control over state proceeds and expenses and the functioning of the Greek economy in general.

It is indeed a situation identical to that of a country under occupation.

All the above symptoms of default are known and visible to all, as is also visible that we are facing a situation of controlled default. What is, however, revealed by economists and high level functionaries of organization and is easily deduced by the institutional system, the system of legal provisions and procedures by means of which our creditors and governments secured our lending, the exertion of control over our potential default and the mongering of our current crisis is for Greece something much worse and much more dangerous than any default.

This is precisely the evil that we feel obligated to make known to the public and which must be realized by all Greeks. Which evil is that?

The controlled default, the manifestations of which we mentioned earlier, is a politically controlled default. This implies the following:

(a)              The present state default was politically imposed. It was fraudulently brought upon, to serve the economic and political aims we analyzed further in chapter C. of the present essay.

It is of course true that Greece had already been severely affected by the economic crisis, for which many internal responsibilities can be detected. However, the default we are currently experiencing, the default with the unlawful agreements and the cruel and inhuman terms, could have been avoided.

(b) The terms of the “Memoranda” that surpass all lawful barriers of sovereign lending and put restrictions on Greece’s sovereignty are, as we saw in Chapters B. and C., clearly political.

            This is why they were never made public, nor were they communicated to the Deputies of the People and the political parties, nor did a deliberation take place in the Greek Parliament, for example through the means of a Parliamentary question, or a public discussion in one of the mass media.

(c) The implementation and the control of implementation of the imposed default constitute political actions of our creditors and the Greek governments. That is to say: They do not serve economic purposes such as the elimination of the current crisis, the upturn and the development of the country, albeit, the economic and political pursuits we expounded in Chapter C.

The pursuing of political aims is the reason why our creditors and governments still insist on imposing a program which –at their own admission- has already proved to be a failure. The political character of the implementation of the program was further accentuated by the fact that neither Greek political and economic authorities nor those of the Euro-zone ever published a detailed briefing on the economic viability of the “Memoranda” and neither did the mass media ever take the initiative of disseminating in-depth information or of organizing a televised discussion or promoting an exchange of opinions in the daily press.

(d) The optimum duration of default is a purely political matter and not a decision based on economic programming. The means of this type of dependency, mentioned above, are the following:

-                     The over-lending of the country.

-                     The incontrollable expropriation and abusive exploitation of Greece’s wealth sources following a full transfer of property and exclusive exploitation rights for the future decades to multinationals pertaining to our creditors’ political block.

All the abovementioned effects of the politically controlled default, should they not be overturned through the resistance of the Greek people and the emergence of a capable and powerful political leadership motivated solely by the state’s interests, are bound to bring about tragic consequences:

-                     The social fabric will be disbanded.

-                     The human capital and major productive value of the country will be lead to immigration.

-                     The Greek territory will be facing the danger of being diminished.

-                     The Greek people still remaining in the Greek territory will continue to live in subservience and misery for generations to come.

From all the above it is evident that the Greek people have been victims of acts of severe political and economic violence, for the sake of the success of the “Economic Adjustment Program” experiment, imposed and implemented for the broader unlawful purposes mentioned earlier.

The policies adopted in Greece today and their whole rationale, are in breach of the fundamental principles of our culture, the protection of human value, human rights and social democracy.

        However, the terrifying and deeply tragic consequences of the “Memoranda” can definitely be countermanded for the future.

They cannot prevail for there is a political solution.

Ε. The resolution plan

     1. The general character of the solution

The solution we are proposing is the one we deemed as most realistic, most beneficial for Greece and most effective. It will certainly not be a walk in the park. It is challenging, demanding sacrifice and a political leadership that is at the same time capable, powerful and decisive. Namely, a government that will be able to function over and above ideological, political and petty political considerations, with the principles of democracy fairly ascertained and with a sound consideration for the interests of the country, with an unwavering will to put up a noble struggle for those interests above all else.

The suggestions that we consider to be the solution have been, since the beginning of the crisis and up to today, denied access to any kind of public discussion even in the form of a mere mention.

The whole system of political communication in Greece and the Euro-zone is open to dissemination of any other type of judgment passed against the “Economic Adjustment Program”, albeit at the same time not opening any possibilities of discussion that would pertain to thoughts or information relevant to the resolution of the problem we are about to analyze further. It does not even allow discussions about the mere existence of a solution but rather aims to the consolidation of the view that the “Economic Adjustment Program”, imposed on Greece, is the sole solution despite, in essence, being an economic program leading to the disbandment of Greece.

What we are suggesting is not a magical solution. It takes the form of outlining the core, that is to say the basic parameters, of a political plan, which in order to be applied requires a politically capable and courageous hand to give it the appropriate structure and serve its completion by securing the core we described. It is not, therefore, a solution, but the draft of one.

The core of the draft solution program consists of two main pillars: an internal one, implementing the program in the Greek territory, and an external one, promoting a solution through relations with our creditors and our general external relations.

We have to underline that both those pillars are equally indispensable to the final outcome. A successful completion of merely one of them is not deemed sufficient to bring about the desired solution

We shall begin our analysis from the first of the two pillars, which logically precedes the second one. As mentioned earlier, we will be merely outlining those parameters and thus the analysis will be carried out in simple terms.

1. 2.The internal pillar of the program

The internal pillar consists of two main elements:

a. A political leadership, which will formulate and complete the proposed draft program maintaining its core elements.

b. A program of immediate restructuring of state mechanisms designed and implemented by the new political leadership.

Both the above elements of the internal pillar of action constitute requisites for an effective functioning of the whole program of a solution. Thus, attention should be focused mainly on the quality of those two elements: both of the political leadership and the program of state restructuring.

a. The political leadership.

The first and foremost requisite of the resolution program that we are suggesting is, undoubtedly, the birth, molding and formulation of a new political leadership. Without such, a realistic resolution program cannot even begin to be implemented.

The ideal political leadership should be imbued with such principles of thought, mentality and political morality that will direct it to radically different modes of thought and action than those of the antiquated views of political parties currently participating in the parliamentary proceedings.

For the molding of a political leadership with the above qualities, that will devise and apply the proposed plan for the addressing and overcoming of the current crisis certain, difficult but indispensable, terms have to be fulfilled, namely:

(a) The motivation and resistance of the broader Greek society against the “Memoranda” policies.

This motivation and resistance should rise above any ideological or political limitations linked to parties and/or groups; it should take the form of a “national resistance front” and function as such.

A “national resistance front” should have a sole purpose:

-                     ­­To take on a continuous and relentless struggle against the “Memoranda”, a true resistance against their implementation, a genuine and unwavering opposition against the policies and politicians in support of them.

We have made this clear before and we will do so once more:

-                     The kind of resistance we are suggesting is a lawful resistance: The type of resistance entrenched as an unalienable right in the Greek Constitution in cases of crises, during which:

Continuous violations of the government system, constitutional rights of Greeks along with human rights in general are observed, when there is a total silencing of the media of political communication and at the same time the current system of political authority is in itself incapable of restituting constitutional lawfulness or, often enough, the system is the one responsible for the relevant infringements.

-                     It is an inalienable right of the Greek people encroached in the ultimate article of the Greek Constitution.

Consequently, no one can reasonably make the accusation that -today, when the Greek people are under such an extensive abolition of the Constitution and the principles of democracy- the resistance we preach is equal to an overthrowing of democracy and constitutional lawfulness. On the contrary: it is based on the exercise of a constitutional right for the restitution of democracy violated in its core.

(b) The second requisite for the molding of a new political leadership is: the true birth of a new political system fully independent from the syndromes of traditional Greek political leaderships, which are:

- The petty political objective of seizing and indefinitely maintaining authority.

- The creation and the favoring of internal and external forces of support to each existing authority system.

- The multidimensional political viciousness the Greek people have been experiencing.

(c) The new political leadership should be equipped with full democratic legitimacy. It can, thus, emerge solely through free and undistorted elections.

Thus, no group, movement or activity cannot be accepted as part of the proposed resolution plan if it ultimately has in mind any violations of the democratic system of authority.

As far as the new political leadership in concerned we shall proceed to the relevant clarifications:

First clarification: the emerging political leadership should not necessarily be composed solely by people or a leader new to politics. Persons already present in the political scene could participate with the necessary prerequisite of having first been completely weaned from antiquated political mentalities. A basic characteristic of the new line of political thinking required of contemporary leadership is the absence of an intention of taking advantage of their participation in the resistance movement for their own integration in the current corrupt system of political authority. Meaning that their first and foremost aspiration should not be to accumulate power in its current sense and in the current status of political morality.

Second clarification: the total of the new political leadership should be comprised by persons of high capability that, aside from their level of competence, are also inspired by a spirit of unbreakable cohesion and collectivity.

We should underline however the teachings of historical experience that for a political authority effective in crisis-management the key role rests with its leader and his distinct personality.

Third clarification: a political party involving such groups as “factions” or “components” disbanding the political base’s cohesion and the political base itself and overbalancing the main aim of withstanding the current crisis and overturning both “Memoranda” and the antiquated political system of authority; cannot aspire to accomplish the task at hand.

b. Restructuring the state mechanism.

Restructuring the state mechanism as part of the political solution should not be underestimated. We should not forget that the most essential cause of depression and economic crises in the history of the contemporary Greek state has always been the faulty organization of the state in conjunction with maladministration.

Therefore, designing and applying a program of restructuring of the state mechanism with immediate application, is indispensable, so that the Greek state recovers its strength and potential for the coping with and overcoming of the current crisis, rendering itself once more productive and capable of supporting growth and development.

Moreover, we should not lest forget that the malfunctioning of the state mechanism not only deprived the state of the necessary strength that would render it resilient in a crisis but it also created a foundation and the institutional means of turpitude and corruption.

We should not overlook, finally, that the whole system of the “Memoranda” is not only indifferent towards the restructuring of the state mechanism, but also conducive to the full elimination of its productive potential. Whenour governments and creditors refer to “structural reform” they mean that we should succumb to the neo-liberal dogma of privatization of public utility companies and public interest related enterprises. They do not mean a restructuring of the state mechanism using contemporary scientific knowledge and instruments. On the contrary, their actual purposes have been made known.

By, “a program restructuring the state mechanism with immediate application” we imply:

A politically reliable program, based on which an organization of strict standards and special knowledge will be founded; able to design and gradually but swiftly promote a streamlined restructuring of the state administrative mechanism, starting form its most crucial sectors, playing a major role in tackling the present crisis namely, financial services; taxation services; services pertaining to the Ministry of External Relations and the different Ministries dealing with the economy and relevant to Greece’s EU and international economic relations; services causing unreasonably high expenses; services where the most extensive cases of turpitude have been detected by the respective mechanisms for the control of state functions. For all the above services the relevant legal provisions -via which nefariousness had been integrated into legislation- must also be amended.

Along with the outlining of the above program we wish to emphasize that: Without the above fast-tracked structural reforms, neither the release from the “Memoranda” nor the policies for fruitful exploitation of state wealth can be accomplished. The whole range of political forces along with the whole of the Greek people should realise that nothing can be achieved without the state to back up the effort; nothing can be achieved while the contemporary Greek state remains in this wretched condition.

Unfortunately, the resisting political forces of the current Parliament have not yet been made aware of this basic premise for the realization of the political solution contra the “Memoranda”, neither have they integrated it in their political programs.

1. 3.The external pillar: The draft solution in the level of Greece’s relation with its creditors.

a. General Outline

In this respect, the draft solution has in its core the full and radical release from the “Memoranda”, from all the relevant loan agreements and contracts and the “Economic Adjustment Program” as well as from the total number of acts voted in implementation or on the basis of the above agreements.

The hereinafter are dependent from the successful application of the reform plan:

-                     The abolition of Greece’s subservience and its liberation.

-                     The political and economic exploitation of state wealth for the benefit of Greece itself.

-                     Greece’s transition from a state of recession to one of growth and development.

The plan for the absolute release form the grasp of the “Memoranda” and the constrictions imposed thereof to the Greek people and the Greek state has been made known by many names, some of which cause intentional or unintentional misunderstandings fraudulently exploited by those in support of the “Memoranda”.

It is, therefore, useful to record the actions and stages of application of the present draft solution, so that the Greek people understand it constitutes a realistic solution which has been repeatedly applied and which is not only compatible with international and EU law, but rather required by them for the protection of national sovereignty and the rights of the people.

We should note, at this time, that the actions necessary for the enforcement of the present plan are quite habitual in practice and are reasonably expected to be enforced in Greece, being a member-state of the EU and the Euro-zone, after a smooth and regular governmental transition.

These actions have the following characteristics:

1. A suspension of payments of state loans.

2. At the same time, the new government will address a statement to our creditors, through which it will announce the suspension of payments and the reasons leading up to it.

3. The reasons given for the suspension of payments and the total debt restructuring should be the following:

1. a.The fact that Greece is incapable of continuing to fulfill its loan obligations without severely breaching its fundamental responsibility to meet the basic needs of dignified living of its people and to ensure the defensive capacity of the country.
2. b.The fact that Greece, neither according to its Constitution nor its legislation, can enforce or can be obligated to enforce agreements being null and void given that all the loan agreements and contracts from May 2010 till the present day are -to what concerns their method of conclusion, the amount of loans and their terms- invalid being contrary to international law, the law of the European Union and the Greek Constitution; moreover they were not concluded according to the relevant international law and constitutional provisions.
3. c.The fact that for the same reasons mentioned above, Greece can neither be obliged nor wishes to apply programs and legislation obviously, null and void, given that the “Economic Adjustment Program” directly linked to the hereinabove loan agreements and contracts, all the imposed measures for its implementation and all the internal acts (laws, acts of legislative content and administrative acts) issued for its application are contrary to superior law and, thus, legally void.

4. Through the same declaration, the new Greek government should

invite creditors to: cease imposing the implementation of the unlawful contracts and their unlawful and inhuman terms; accept to negotiate from square one the total restructuring of the Greek debt as far as the amount of loan and terms of lending are concerned, based on international law, the treaties of the EU and the Constitution of Greece; accept the governing of the loan agreements and contracts by European Union law waiving the English law and private law clauses, which have been deemed incompatible with the level of protection entrenched in international law and the European acquis.

5. In the event that the above reasons for the suspension of payments

are accepted by the creditors as essential and non-negotiable terms for a renegotiation from square one and debt restructuring, the realization of the release from the grip of the “Memoranda” and the delimitation of loans to a viable not onerous amount, with lawful and economically reasonable terms will be able to proceed shortly and smoothly. (We should note that the amount of a non-onerous and viable debt will be calculated through an objective economic study though, according to opinions of independent economists, it should not exceed the 20-25% of the current total.)

6. In the event that the terms are not accepted by the creditors and

the stream of funding is cut off, the whole problem is reassigned to the Greek government, which has many aces up its sleeve. Aces such as the possibilities and imminent consequences for Greece and its creditors which are the following:

(a) Greece will have the possibility of unilaterally terminating all its loan contracts and agreements declaring them as legally void: Due to the onerous nature of the debt (violating the legal obligation of the state for the fulfillment of its people’s basic needs and its defense requirements.) which has been and continues to be generated; due to the legal invalidity of the agreements not having been ratified; the contrary nature of their terms to international law, the law of the EU and the Constitution and due to the agreements themselves as well as their application being the product of political and economic coercion. (Article 52 of the Vienna Treaty of 1969.)

(b) Greece, should it consider it favorable, has the ability, evoking a situation of extreme economic necessity created by the ceasing of funding and its consequent de facto exclusion from international markets, to officially declare default through a general suspension of payments. In this case, the consequences for our creditors will be grave: they will lose the loans they have granted to our state and a domino of economic consequences for the whole of Europe, the USA and the world will follow. Furthermore, their unlawful ambitions for the wealth and assets of the country, encumbered by the loan agreements (the “Memoranda”) will be nullified and the block of countries and interests our creditors represent, will lose an important member (Greece).

(c) Greece has the potential –which is also a major prerequisite to the political solution mentioned earlier- by exercising an independent and multidimensional external relations strategy, of exploiting its immense wealth sources, mainly underwater hydrocarbon resources and of deriving essential capital for surpassing the current crisis and entering into a track of development. The termination of the loan agreements (the “Memoranda”) will lead to a full release of Greece’s wealth resources from the unlawful absolute encumbrance of state assets for the benefit of the creditors. (See above).

7. The advantages of the draft solution. Concerning the state of events unfolding after the above plan of release from encumbrance has been set in motion, we have to note the following benefits of the plan for the Greek state demonstrating that it is indeed the most realistic plan that a new government could pursue:

(a) The most significant advantage of the proposed plan is the politically oriented exploitation of the power valuable wealth resources grant Greece, resources unlawfully detained for the benefit of our creditors. The hydrocarbon wealth of the Greek Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) constitutes a significant basis of influence, even for direct fund acquiring, should it start to be exploited by way of independent strategic guidelines. Taking this opportunity to highlight that the Greek EEZ is the second largest in Europe (after that of Italy) and, based on certified scientific data, contains great amounts of hydrocarbons. Moreover, the Greek EEZ holds extensive geopolitical importance. That is the reason why the first demand of the Greek people from their government is to unilaterally declare, as prescribed by international law, the Greek EEZ and subsequently commence its exploitation. We should carefully observe the example of Cyprus and the emerging significant international interest for exploitation activities in the Cyprian EEZ. We should put an end to the –definitively intentional and fraudulent- criminal omission of the EEZ’s outlining and declaration.

(b) Another one of Greece’s advantages is that is has the provisions of international law, EU law and the European acquis on its side. This advantage is strengthened by the fact that Greece is a European state and a member-state of the European Union and the Euro-zone, which (still) make up the centre of principles of democratic lawfulness and the principles of international and European legality. We should view the above taking into account the particular sensitivity the people of Europe have expressed in the past towards the value and application of the democratic principle and those of welfare state and the rule of law; mainly in the face of the obliteration of legal principles by fascism and German National Socialism.

(c) A powerful advantage is granted by the fact that our country’s economy and Europe’s financial system are closely interconnected, thus, making any kind of default and/or exit from the Euro-zone as well as any kind of political release from the Memoranda a danger of catastrophic economic intensity for Europe. It is evident, thus, that what our creditors and governments allege to be grave threats for the state, are in reality a major advantage.

(d) The potential of an exit from the Euro-zone, can also turn into a major advantage: It is noted that the event of the creditors denying to accept the terms of total release from the Memoranda and renegotiation of the conditions of debt cannot directly lead to an unwilling exit of Greece from the Euro-zone, much less from the European Union itself. As is already known, such a procedure (exit of a state) is neither legally predicted nor possible. A possible exit could be realized if either the Euro-zone or the EU forced a state to exit or by a state’s own decision, should it deem an exit beneficial. As for the event of a forced exit, being realized through various means of economic oppression, it would result in an unlawful exit leading to a Greek default with an entirety of devastating consequences for our creditors and Europe itself. If the EU and the Euro-zone wish to avoid those consequences they will be forced to ensure Greece’s numismatic and economic stability while the state will have gone back to the drachma. A potential exit from the Euro-zone will have to be assessed, thus, based not only on the country’s interest but also that of our European partners.

Let’s not forget that high executives of the Euro-zone as well as Mrs. Merkel herself have commented on many occasions that an exit of Greece from the Euro-zone will prove “devastating for Europe and in a broader scope.” Given the above, the possibility of a Greek exit, instead of being a threat, should become an advantageous tool in the country’s negotiations with creditors.

8. The event of an uncontrolled default. We are referring to the event in which the new government will not be able to immediately exploit the hereinabove advantages and the EU/Euro-zone will not ensure numismatic stability and the smooth sailing of the country’s economy. With the term “uncontrolled default” we describe an event where the forces of the international community abandon Greece to tackle its default unaided. One will wonder: Is it possible for the two above conditions leading to default (the new government’s inability to exploit Greece’s advantageous position and its abandonment from the rest of the European states) to simultaneously occur? Moreover, is it possible that no other state in the international community has an interest in aiding Greece –a country with a paramount geopolitical position- so that it doesn’t weather the crisis on its own? A country with political and economic interests closely interweaved to those of numerous states, much more numerous than those of the western world states, taking into account the current economic and political environment tightly binding countries together due to financial and geopolitical agendas. Would there not be, in an international scale, any interest in evading the domino effect of a Greek default or for gaining of access to the country’s wealth sources? Such a default would only be able to exist in the realm of imagination. But alas! This false tale has been the main argument in brainwashing the Greek people for the past three years!

However, let’s view the event of an uncontrolled default in comparison to that of a default controlled by our creditors:

This imaginary default, could evidently not be in any way compared, as far as the country’s socioeconomic conditions are concerned, to the one at the end of World War II and the broader period of the Greek Civil Conflict to which it is so blatantly measured up to; two dissimilar historical periods which are in no way akin in terms of international and national conditions.

An uncontrolled default today would have incomparably milder social consequences and its duration would be shorter, taking into account solely the existing advantage of Greece’s wealth sources, which we have already mentioned. While independently from the said advantages such a default would affect just one generation of Greeks in comparison to the controlled one we are currently undergoing destined to debilitate Greeks for an indefinite period of time.

F. CONCLUSION

The above essay confirms an old saying illustrating the historical reality concerning the wealth of small nations: “The wealth of a small state is at the same time both a blessing and a curse”: a blessing, because on that wealth the state’s power is based, as is the wellbeing of its people; a curse because it makes a country the target of treachery and the stage of conflict. In reality wealth is a blessing when the country has a capable political leadership, with a sound soul and a willful spirit, independent in its convictions, with a patriotic conscience. Wealth can be transformed into a curse when the political leadership is incompetent, petty, fraudulent and submissive.

Nowadays, Greece is confronted with the curse. Treachery and the bulimic assault unleashed upon Greece has started to take its toll on the state and its wealth, while, compared to those fiends, our current political leaders look like a group of dwarves seeking validation enclosed in the carapace of their meaningless authority.

Proud Greeks whose identity has been formed by the conscious understanding of their history, respect for human dignity and their obligation as political beings towards the city and the political society, Greeks with Mikis Theodorakis’ s spirit and resolve, aspire to help generate a new political leadership that will transform wealth into a blessing again. And their aspiration will be accomplished!

 

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[1] see LoanFacilityAgreement (“1st Memorandum”), article 4, (2), (a), (i) and (ii); Act of Legislative Content (Government Gazette issue Α΄ 55/14.03.2012), article 5, (2), (a),(i) and (ii).

[2]Βλ. LoanFacilityAgreement (“1st Memorandum”), article 14, (1) and (5), article 3, (4), (a), article 4, (1), (b), Annex 4 no. 11; Act of Legislative Content (Government Gazette issue Α΄ 55/14.03.2012); Approval of the Draft “Financial Assistance Facility Agreement” between the “European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the Hellenic Republic (2nd Memorandum), article 15, (1), (2), (4), article 3 (1), (a), article 5, (1) and (c), Annex 2.

[3]Law 3986/2011 (GG Issue Α΄ 152/01.07.2011), Urgent Measures for the Implementation of the Medium - Term Fiscal Strategy Framework 2012-2015.

[4] Today, of course, the IMF alleges that the Greek debt is not an economically viable one and should, therefore, be restructured (“haircut”). However, I’m afraid that the above is being proposed not to accomplish a truly viable Greek sovereign debt but in order for a solution compatible with the continuation of our lending from the IMF be found, conforming with the terms of the Fund’s Statute.