Tsakalotos, PM’s office differ on stance toward creditors

When Deputy Labour Minister Tasos Petropoulos announced the prospect of handing out an Easter bonus to pensioners and civil servants (holiday bonuses were abolished by the bailout memorandums), Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos to hastened to nip the idea in the bud.

Those in the know say that the incident reflects different and conflicting perceptions of the PM's advisors and Tsakalotos on how the government should deal with creditors on the way to the general election and whether it can unilaterally decide on distributing social benefits and handouts.

Such a move, which would create a precedent on cases pending before the Council of State on whether the abolition of holiday bonuses (which were essentially factored in to the annual labour cost) were constitutional, was not the bright idea of the experienced minister.

His statement was essentially a trial balloon, which reflected the objective of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' inner circle of advisors (including ministers Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, Nikos Pappas, and Alekos Flambouraris) to exhibit the "social face" of the government by resorting to unilateral actions.

Essentially, the PM's team is entertaining the idea of small, manageable clashes with creditors that can be easily resolved with a minor governmental retreat.

Such moves are designed to bolster the government's narrative that in the post-bailout era it can meet the fiscal targets agreed to with creditors any way it likes, and that it is prepared - despite the bitter experience of 2015 when Greece teetered on the edge of Grexit - to clash with creditors (who are responsible for the long-term enhanced surveillance of the Greek economy) in defence of the interests of the poor and vulnerable.

Tsakalotos insists...