Greece’s economic woes took centre stage during the press conference of visiting Greek MPs at the Greek Consulate General in Melbourne last Monday.

The three politicians, Dimitris Varvarigos from the governing socialist party of PASOK, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis representing the conservative opposition party of New Democrracy (ND) and Grigoris Psarianos for the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) visited Victoria for a few days to take part in the celebrations for the commemoration of the March 25th Independence Day.

Mr Varvarigos emphasised that the economic situation is very difficult despite the recent decision in Brussels by the leaders of the Eurozone for the potential rescue of the Greek economy. “The problem [of Greece’s economic crisis] is big, with the country’s public debt, lack of credibility and borrowing difficulties being at the forefront, but essentially the deeper issue is the lack of competitiveness of the Greek economy,” Mr Varvarigos said.

He explained that this is the critical front which will determine how soon Greece can break away from the vicious cycle of economic stagnation, increase its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and come out from the crisis.

The ND MP said that the crisis is not only affecting Greece but Europe in general. He agreed that the issue at hand is Greece’s lack of economic competitiveness. “Beyond the crisis of deficits we also need to address the crisis of the competitiveness, not only of our economy but also of our public sector,” Mr Varvitsiotis said.

The SYRIZA MP, however, painted an even bleaker picture of the situation in Greece. He used an analogy to describe Greece as a store positioned on a great location that once was selling products and was thriving only to now find itself bankrupt owing money to everyone, no longer producing anything, or selling anything.

Mr Psarianos emphasised the bloated public sector in Greece which he said has been created with the culpability of all governments since the fall of the junta in 1974. “The BBC has 1500 employees and ERT [Greek public broadcaster] has 5000. Every government hired a [great] number of employees in Olympic Airways and never did the parties of the Left raise their voice to stop this practice so that the company wouldn’t go bankrupt and then the same parties of the Left were protesting the privatisation of Olympic… so everyone is responsible,” Mr Psarianos said.

When asked if Greece’s economic crisis could lead to social conflict, Mr Psarianos replied affirmatively arguing that very soon the government may be forced to implement a supplementary austerity package which will trigger intense reactions.

On the same topic Mr Varvitsiotis firstly accused the government of delaying taking the necessary austerity measures worsening the effects of the economic crisis.

He further argued that his party is not attempting to rip political benefits from the situation by inciting people to protest on the streets and is avoiding a “head on collision course with the government” but conquered with Mr Psarianos that if the government is forced to take supplementary austerity measures within the next 3-6 months inevitably this would lead to “great social unrest”.

PASOK’s MP, Mr Varvarigos acknowledged that the current situation is difficult with many people feeling the fiscal squeeze but he said that the vast majority of people understand the need of such measures. He expressed optimism and hope that the government will not forced to resort to additional austerity measures.

When all three MPs were asked what Greece expects from the Diaposra to help alleviate the situation, Mr Varvarigos and Mr Varvitsiotis agreed that the best way is for Greeks abroad to help restore the country’s credibility in the world stage.

Mr Psarianos on the other hand emphasised that Greece should not expect anything from the Diaspora because it has betrayed their trust by having a public administration that has squandered huge amounts of money that it has received mostly from the European Union due to corruption and inefficiencies.