44 SYRIZA members don’t want E. Panaritis at IMF: Much ado over $200K!

Greece’s Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) party was divided over Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ choice of economist Eleni Panaritis as the country’s representative to the International Monetary Fund. Just 24 hours after the decision was announced, 44 SYRIZA MPs called on the government to revoke this decision. MPs against the appointment included SYRIZA  Parliamentary Spokesman Nikos Filis and MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis were amongst the most prominent party members to oppose the decision.

The text states that the party is opposed to “the values, viewpoints and politics she represents”, and stresses that “a prominent representative of memorandum policies cannot possibly express the government.” The members signing the letter point not only to a “symbolic but also a political decision” and immediately call for the “mistake” to be rectified.

As a permanent representative to the IMF, Panaritis would be in a position to sign “golden contracts” and would receive a salary of 18,000 dollars per month (over 200,000 dollars per year) not including fringe benefits, such as first class travel.