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International mobilization to restore Glass-Steagall
Alexis Tsipras, Leader of the Greek Opposition, Calls for Glass-Steagall for Europe
17 December 2013
(EIRNS)—The leader of the Greek parliamentary opposition, Alexis Tsipras declared, "Europe needs its own Glass-Steagall," yesterday, during the Madrid conference of the Party of the European Left, which includes many of Europe’s former Communist and Euro-Communist parties. While Glass-Steagall has been buried in the laundry list of demands of the Syriza party, which Tsipras heads, this is one of the first times he has put it so unequivocally at the center of his program. Speaking at the Madrid conference, Tsipras said, "Europe is at a critical crossroads." He then denounced the "neo-liberal status quo" charging that "Neo-liberalism is a threat to the peoples of Europe" and democracy in Europe. While not denouncing the euro single currency openly, he did say, "That even before Eurozone actually came to life we were pointing out the flaws, the deficiencies, and the destabilizing asymmetries of the project. We have been saying and proven right, that there can be no monetary union divided by a wall of money .... a Eurozone with a short deadline.... "We have been saying and proven right, that no monetary union can function without a central bank, acting as such. That is, acting as lender of last resort for member-states and not only for member-banks. "We have been saying and proven right, that Europe needs its own Glass-Steagall Act, to separate commercial and investment banking activities and prevent such a dangerous merging of risks into one uncontrolled entity." Tsipras continued, that the "European political establishment saw the debt crisis as an opportunity to rewrite Europe’s postwar political economy. It is for that reason that they reject our proposal for a European Debt Conference, modeled on the London Debt Conference in 1953, to give a definite and viable collective solution to the problem. He then said "Europe needs a ’New Deal’ to fight unemployment and to finance its future. We have been saying and proven right, that if Europe is to survive, it needs redistribution and solidarity." After pointing out the 2 million Greeks cannot cover their basic needs, such as meals with meat and adequate home heating, that every day the picture in Athens and the main cities of Greece, include well-dressed men and women searching for food to eat from garbage cans, he said that Syriza is one step from coming to power, and when it does "The Syriza government will inspire change in Europe. We count on each and every one of you. We count on the solidarity of the peoples of Europe in the first difficult steps of our government. This is why, we need the Left to grow stronger and become a decisive force for the future of Europe. Because with the Syriza government, Greece will abandon austerity and put on the table a viable plan for the Greek economy, but most of all, a viable plan for Europe as a whole." The conference elected Tsipras as their candidate for the European Commission Presidency, which also reflects the support for a Glass-Steagall Act among their member parties. The fact that Tsipras put Glass-Steagall directly on the table is without doubt directly related to the fact that the leader of the Independent Greeks party, Panos Kammenos only a week earlier had put his call for Glass-Steagall and a Franklin D. Roosevelt-style New Deal at the center of his budget debate speech in Greece’s Parliament. By contrast Tsipras, in that debate, did not even mention Glass-Steagall in his speech to Parliament. It has been discussed that if elections were held in Greece, and Syriza should win without a full majority, the Independent Greeks would serve as a coalition partner. [dea] |