Dear Editor,
The Greeks recently went to the polls. They voted overwhelmingly for Alexis Tsipras and his leftist Syriza party after several years of austerity programmes by previous administrations which saw their living standards plummet to an all-time low.
The main platform of the victorious Syriza party was one of re-negotiating the crippling debt burden which was imposed by the Western financial institutions, more particularly the European Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The challenges before him are enormous. The austerity programmes have failed miserably to reinvigorate the economy and even though the economy was of late showing some signs of life under the former conservative New Democracy party led by outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, it proved in the end to be a case of too little too late. The truth of the matter is that Greeks have been hard hit by high levels of unemployment, cuts in social services and pensions. One in four Greek workers is currently unemployed. The situation is even worse among the younger population where one in every two just cannot find work.
Under the slogan ‘Hope is on the way’ the new administration now has the herculean task of restoring hope and turning the tide of despair.
The situation in Greece can hardly get worse. Within the past four years, the country borrowed some US$278 billion under a debt restructuring bailout plan. Understandably, one of the first policy measures of the new administration is to renegotiate the debt burden which currently stands at 175 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
According to a BBC story, the crisis situation has affected all facets of national life. The crisis has relegated social life to secondary importance as could be seen from comments made by ordinary Greeks: “The crisis has forced love to become a secondary priority. There are other things to worry about. I see many women looking for someone who has money to take them out, who can take them on holidays. I see this quite a lot and it saddens me.”
“We save to come once every few months for a drink, and we look forward to it.”
Many young adults are forced to delay marriage and having families as could be seen from a significant decline in the population since the crisis started over a decade ago.
The situation in Greece is not dissimilar to what obtained in Guyana during the days of the former PNC administration when the country was up to the neck in debt and the country had to spend substantial revenues on debt servicing and repayment. It took the return of the PPP/C administration on October 5, 1992 before the viability of the economy was finally restored along sustainable lines. Thanks to prudent management of the economy, sound monetary policies and strong fiscal discipline the economy bounced back within a relatively short period and with it an enhanced quality of life for the Guyanese people.
As Guyanese prepare for yet another general and regional election, the lesson from Greece is as relevant as it is instructive. It took a working class party like the PPP to understand the pain and tribulations of the ordinary people and to put in place the right kinds of policy prescriptions to correct the onslaught on the poor. As the PPP/C administration has shown, the task of national reconstruction can be challenging though not insurmountable. Today Guyana has graduated from a highly indebted low income country to a middle income country, an extraordinary achievement considering the wrecked economy which the new PPP/C administration inherited in 1992.
Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar was quite correct when he observed that the country’s economic performance was quite good considering the harsh international environment and a hostile and obstructionist political opposition.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
