With the Greek elections looming on 25 January, all talk within the country is on the frontrunners, the radical left-wing Syriza party, which leads the polls with 33.5 per cent, 6.5 points ahead of prime minister Antonis Samaras’s centre-right New Democracy party.
The unprecedented popularity of Syriza, which has campaigned as the party to stand up to Germany and the so-called troika, reflects the Greek people’s desire for real change and an end to the crippling austerity programme overseen by Samaras.
For those in the fresh produce business, the main concern is the instability that could follow Syriza’s election, but most agree that change is necessary.
“There are so many people in Greece that are desperate,” said George Kallitsis of Protofanousi Fruits. “Every year since 2008, the taxes have gone up, houses have lost value while property taxes have risen, wages are down or the same, and there is no growth or development. Analysts are predicting growth of 0.5 per cent in 2015, but this is nothing compared with the decreases of 2-3 per cent that the country has experienced for years.”
Fear of instability
“The reality is that politicians in Greece have been rather ineffective and disappointing over the past several decades,” said George Frangistas of exporter Gefra. “But should Syriza come out on top, and assuming they will be able to form a functional government and decide to implement their pre-electoral programme, it can only result in instability for the entire economy.”
The main issue, Frangistas stated, was money. “To cut back on austerity and implement just a small part of its electoral promises, Syriza will need money,” he said. “Where will it come from?”
Syriza has pledged to renegotiate the terms of the bailout if it wins outright on 25 January, and that is where it faces severe opposition from the troika of the European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB), which together could decide to refuse future aid.
“In case of the slightest friction with the EC, IMF and ECB, we will simply fall off the tight rope that we have barely be clinging on to these past few years,” continued Frangistas. “The current equilibrium that keeps us breathing is extremely fragile.”
Frangistas highlighted the fresh produce industry’s reliance on foreign suppliers for its continued survival. “Our sector is far from autonomous,” he said. “We depend on foreign suppliers for fuel, paper and other packaging materials, as well as for pre- and post-harvest products and machinery.The uninhibited flow of supplies is a necessity.Furthermore, one must expect that unilateral decisions from Greece will result in repercussions, or even reprisals, from most European countries that currently consume our produce.”
Left right about debt
Many international analysts have been far more supportive of Syriza’s goals, with the Financial Times’s Wolfgang Münchau stating that “the radical left is right about the debt”.
This is in stark contrast to comments made by prime minister Samaras, whose description of Syriza as “an accident that must not happen” and whose claims that the party will want “jails without bars and courts without prosecutors” have seen him widely criticised for fear-mongering.
As for a possible Greek exit from the eurozone – an eventuality that most analysts believe Germany would be desperate to avoid no matter what Merkel’s present unruffled stance suggests – some in Greece are less fearful of the potential consequences.
“If we left the eurozone it wouldn’t be much worse,” said Kallitsis. “Most companies in Greece are export-oriented, so sales might even increase.”
