G. Stournaras’s revelation that G. Dragasakis was examining the “prospects” of a parallel currency exposes the entire SYRIZA government system.
Unfortunately for the key figures in the much-touted “co-governance” of SYRIZA, historical memory is proving far more resilient than their need for collective amnesia.
No matter how hard the leadership team of that period—led by the, according to market sources, reckless Alexis Tsipras, attempts today to remove the institutional “ark” of truth from the spotlight, the facts stubbornly remain.
The “dragon generation,” seeing the prospect of a return to power vanish, scattered to the four winds, is now openly engaged in a systematic attempt to distort reality. However, the truth cannot be hidden, whether it is revealed by Jean-Claude Juncker himself in the exceptional documentary “To the Millimeter,” or whether it comes to light through the new, revelatory testimony of the governor of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras.
Out of touch with reality
The central banker, with the level-headedness befitting his institutional role, recently reminded us that the fear of a Grexit and of complete expulsion of our country from the common European currency remained a very real nightmare even after the dramatic departure of Yanis Varoufakis from the Ministry of Finance.
The reality is that the entire SYRIZA government system was deeply steeped in ideas, theories, and behind-the-scenes plans for parallel banks and alternative currencies, completely detached from European norms. This is why Yannis Stournaras’s revelation is telling: the then-deputy prime minister, Yannis Dragasakis, had sent Professor Dimitris Papadimitriou to his office at the Bank of Greece to analyze the “prospects” of a parallel currency—a move that shatters the narrative of so-called “delusions.”
Whether it was Varoufakis’s Plan B or some other amateurish variation, the Maximos of that era treated the country’s fate with unprecedented flippancy, to the point that young ministers standing next to Mr. Tsipras were joking about which doomsday scenario should be chosen.
Mr. Dragasakis’s awkward and entirely unconvincing response—in which he hastened to dismiss all of this as an “urban legend” without, however, denying the visit itself, betrays the panic of a political elite that sees the ghosts of the past returning.
So, to avoid voluntarily subjecting ourselves to a lobotomy, we must remember that Mr. Dragasakis, who today cloaks himself in the mantle of moderation, was, for many, the mastermind behind the plan for a parallel banking system, without ever distancing himself from the “war councils” that were drafting plans for a rupture under the guidance of foreign advisors, such as Professor Galbraith.
The political “upheaval” in the banks had already begun by the end of 2014. According to the testimony of the then parliamentary spokesperson for SYRIZA, Thanasis Petrakos, Mr. Dragasakis had announced to local party officials in Tripoli that the new government’s first move would be the forced nationalization of systemic banks by converting preferred shares into commoncommon stock.
Although this specific amendment was never submitted in its original form, the bill was reintroduced in Parliament in November 2015, with the deputy prime minister openly calling for a banking system outside the control of the European Union, causing despair among the opposition.
This flirtation with disaster did not stop even in 2019, as just a few days before the national elections, the government’s vice-presidency commissioned feasibility studies from sole proprietorships for the creation of local credit institutions outside the supervision of the BankBank of Greece.
The strategy of parallel payments had been set in motion much earlier, on that infamous night of November 2014 at Alexis Tsipras’s apartment in Kypseli, where in the presence of G. Dragasakis and N. Pappas, G. Varoufakis laid out his vision for a break with the EU, securing his appointment as Minister of Finance.
But when domestic maneuvers proved insufficient, the Tsipras government turned to a geopolitical odyssey filled with despair and ideological obsessions. On the eve of the disastrous 2015 referendum, Mr. Tsipras himself secretly sent Yannis Tolios to Moscow to investigate whether the Central Bank of Russia could print drachmas or provide bailout loans.
These events are not figments of the imagination of their political opponents, but are admitted by the protagonists themselves, such as Mr. Tolios in public statements and books, revealing the “Special Report” he handed to the prime minister on election night.
Dangerous Games
But historical memory does not fade. And even if Mr. Dragasakis or Alexis Tsipras want to forget, citizens remember very well the former vice president’s own admission that the reason they ultimately avoided a total breakdown was not economic, but the fear of a chaotic situation that could no longer be controlled even by democratic means.
Yannis Stournaras’s truths are simply a reflection of a period when the country was on the brink of collapse, and no subsequent whitewashing can change the fact that some gambled away Greece’s fate.
