Greece – A new Beginning? – New Hope? New President. The Legality of the Austerity Bailout Package
Appointed on 27 August by Greece’s President, Prokopis
Pavlópulos, Ms. Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, President of the Supreme
Court and mother of three, was sworn in on Thursday 28, August, 2015 as
interim Prime Minister. She also served as President of the Electoral
Court which oversees and examines the validity of parliamentary
elections and referenda – including the legitimacy and strength of the 5
July referendum against more imposed austerity.
Ms. Vassiliki Thanou will be in charge of forming a caretaker
Government which she announced on Friday, 28 August. She is also
responsible for preparing and overseeing the new elections, now
scheduled for 20 September 2015.
As a fierce opponent of the troika imposed austerity, Ms. Thanou may
be the new spark of hope for Greece’s future. She has openly opposed
dictated wage cuts and an illegal property tax, introduced with the
first bail-out package in 2012. The tax has already put many small
entrepreneurs out of business and threatens more to follow, especially
in Greece’s current economic downturn.
According to Reuters, Ms. Thanou wrote to the European Commission in July 2015,
“The wrong economic policy which was implemented in the
past five years, in line with the bailouts that were imposed by the
(lenders) and failed, have led to a deeper recession, unemployment and
the impoverishment of most of the Greek people,”
