Greece: Troika dictatorship?

Greece ran up debt through high public sector spending, the Athens Olympics, and tax evasion. Much of the borrowing was concealed until the financial downturn hit and Greece was no longer able to repay its loans. It was forced to turn to the EU and IMF for help. In return, the EU and IMF have demanded massive austerity measures which have had a devastating effect on the economy, making Greece reliant on more aid to pay its loans. BBC outlines this here. 

The troika (IMF, European Central Bank and the EU), along with the ruling coalition, have implemented these austerity measures - but nevertheless, ‘the same people who often found themselves facing charges for cheating the state out of millions (and still owe tens of millions according to the data released by the ministry of finance) appear to still be in business with the ruling New Democracy party.’

New austerity measures announced last month include increased taxation, civil servicecuts, cuts to healthcare, and other budget cuts. The austerity measures have caused a humanitarian crisis, with high levels of unemployment, poverty, and homelessness.

 

The ruling coalition and the troika dominate public discourse. Recent closure of the national broadcaster ERT, which presented a variety of political views, was carried out supposedly because of the civil-service job cuts. However, the EU had a dispute with ERT shortly before its closure over ERT’s refusal to portray pro-European news.

Many commentators state that the troika “effectively rules” Greece. Costas Douzinas defines the sovereign as the institution capable of suspending “normal legality”. He argues that in Greece, “the troika holds this position. Its representatives regularly inspect the books, order government ministers to adopt new austerity measures and authorize the payment of loan instalments. They have imposed the most severe act of economic emergency legislation outside wartime. A ‘task force’ oversees the implementation of austerity and the sale of public assets… The troika’s extra legal status makes it the ultimate source of the law. Its diktat has suspended key provisions of the constitution, most safeguards of the social state and basic principles of economic policy.”

Is the troika the dictator of Greece? Greece is technically a democracy; the New Democracy party could easily be voted out at the next election and replaced with SYRIZA. SYRIZA says it will "implement a program of social and economic recovery, of productive and environmental reconstruction, which will heal the wounds inflicted on the working-class and gradually restore the conditions of secure employment and decent living, with the appropriate wages and pensions, creating new jobs." Are these goals possible to achieve? Given the high costs of debt default or leaving the eurozone, it seems as if Greece has no choice and possibly no sovereignty.