Tsipras’ national address, Odysseus and Ithaca

In the shadow of the tragedy of the deadly wildfire in Mati, the prime minister tomorrow will deliver a nationally televised address to speak about the new era that Greece is entering after eight years of austerity.

Alexis Tsipras sought a symbolic location to talk about the freedom the country will have to decide its own economic policy in the post-memorandum era, to pave the way for the tax cuts that he will announce in a few weeks at the Thessaloniki International Fair, and to hint at a suspension of pension cuts that are due to take effect on 1 January, 2019.

What better place could there be for the prime minister, as a latter day Odysseus, to declare the end of Greece’s eight-year adventure, than Ithaca?

By all accounts, Alexis Tsipras will travel to the idyllic Ionian island to deliver a national address to announce Greece’s exit from the bailout memorandums, and that choice evoked ironic commentary by main opposition New Democracy, and others.

“Rumour has it that Mr. Tsipras chose Ithaca for his new communications fiesta, New Democracy dedicates to him in advance a stanza from the poem [“Ithaca”] of Cavafy: Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now,” was the statement issued by ND.

The prime minister’s office shelved plans for grand fiestas and celebrations, due to the 96 deaths in the Mati fire and the popular outcry regarding the negligence and mistakes of the government. However, the prime minister could not lose the opportunity to “advertise the achievements of the government” that led to the country’s exit from the memorandums.

What the PM will not refer to – either in Ithaca or anywhere else – is the long-term austerity to which his government has signed on, with huge primary surpluses, high taxes, and the ENFIA real estate tax, which he had pledged to abolish before coming to power.

Alexis Tsipras is expected to attack New Democracy and Pasok on the grounds that they were the parties which bankrupted Greece.

He is also expected to depict the end of the memorandums as the end of austerity, thus paving the way for the handouts that he will announce at the Thessaloniki International Fair in early September.