"Θερμή" υποδοχή επιφύλαξαν φοιτητές στον υπουργό Υγείας Άδωνη
Γεωργιάδη, κατά τη διάρκεια ομιλίας του στο Imperial College στο
Λονδίνο. Με την πρώτη λέξη του υπουργού, οι φοιτητές άρχισαν να του
φωνάζουν ότι είναι ψεύτης και με συνθήματα εναντίον του στα αγγλικά και
τα ελληνικά διέκοψαν την ομιλία του.
Να σημειωθεί ότι το συγκεκριμένο Πανεπιστήμιο ειδικεύεται στην
τεχνολογία, την ιατρική, τις θετικές και τις χρηματοοικονομικές
επιστήμες.
Όπως ακούγεται σε βίντεο που κυκλοφορούν στο διαδίκτυο, οι φοιτητές
κάλεσαν τον υπουργό Υγείας να μιλήσει για το σύστημα υγείας της
Βενεζουέλας, κατηγορώντας τον ότι όσα λέει είναι ψέματα. "Δεν ξέρετε
τίποτα για τη δημοκρατία" τους είπε ο Αδ. Γεωργιάδης για να πάρει την
απάντηση ενός φοιτητή, εν μέσω χειροκροτημάτων: "Δεν ξέρεις τίποτα από
την πραγματικότητα". Κάποιος άλλος από το κοινό ακούγεται να του απαντά:
"Δεν ξέρουμε τίποτα για τη δική σας Δημοκρατία, όπως την εννοείτε
εσείς".
"Πήγαινε να πουλήσεις βιβλία" του φώναξε μια κοπέλα, προκαλώντας τον
έντονο εκνευρισμό του υπουργού, που είπε ότι για την πώληση των βιβλίων
θα τον κρίνει ο ελληνικός λαός. Είχε μάλιστα εντονότατη λεκτική
αντιπαράθεση με έναν φοιτητή.
Αμέσως μετά, οι διαμαρτυρόμενοι φοιτητές διάβασαν κείμενο εναντίον του,
για την πολιτική που ακολουθεί στο τομέα της υγείας, υπογραμμίζοντας
πως διαλύει το εθνικό σύστημα υγείας.
"Αυτοί οι χθεσινοί ήρθαν για να μου κάνουν ζημιά και κατόρθωσαν να
μάθει όλη η Ελλάδα για την ομιλία στο Imperial" έγραψε ο Αδ. Γεωργιάδης
στο twitter. Μιλώντας στον ΑΝΤ1, είπε ότι επρόκειτο για αριστερούς, ενώ
τους χαρακτήρισε "εξαγώγιμα είδη της Ελλάδος στον ευρωπαϊκό πολιτισμό".
Σε ό,τι αφορά τον φοιτητή με τον οποίο είχε την έντονη αντιπαράθεση,
υποστήριξε ότι "δεν είχε ιδέα για τι μιλούσε, όπως κάνουν συνήθως οι
αριστεροί απανταχού της γης".
Τέλος, σε άλλες δηλώσεις του στον "Σκάϊ" ο υπουργός Υγείας ανέφερε ότι
"υπάρχει μια ομάδα Ελλήνων φοιτητών που σπουδάζουν στο Λονδίνο και
μεταφέρουν την αθλιότητα στο εξωτερικό".
Ποιος όμως προσκάλεσε τον Άδωνι Γεωργιάδη να μιλήσει στο Imperial college;
Σύμφωνα με το infowar ο υπουργός βρέθηκε στο Λονδίνο προσκεκλημένος
του Hellenic Society of Imperial College και του προέδρου του Μιχάλη
Ντιναλέξη (από την ΟΝΝΕΔ Λονδίνου άρθρα του οποίου φιλοξενούνται σε
ακροδεξιά blog. (διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ)
Η ανακοίνωση στα αγγλικά των φοιτητών και των μελών του διδακτικού προσωπικού
The Hellenic Society of Imperial College has invited
Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, the Greek Minister of Health, to speak about the
Greek “national effort” to exit the crisis and the “pan-European
dimension” of this effort on Sunday 16th March 2014. The Greek students
and staff at Imperial College are outraged and have issued this
statement:
‘During the last five years, Greece has been faced with a
multi-dimensional crisis which brought it to the verge of bankruptcy and
had enormous repercussions for the living standards of the country’s
greek health emergencypopulation. Under the terms of successive bailouts
agreed with the troika of international lenders (EC, ECB, IMF), Greece
implemented savage austerity measures, unprecedented in European history
since the Great Depression. The results today are staggering; GDP has
declined by 27%, wages have been cut by more than 30%, coupled with tax
increases and emergency tax hikes, while unemployment has reached 28%.
Public services, including health and education, are under-funded to the
point of collapse. An extensive privatization programme has under-sold
many state companies and assets. The depression has caused a severe
humanitarian crisis inside Greece, with 34% of the population living
under poverty or social exclusion, and has forced tens of thousands of
Greeks to seek work or study opportunities abroad.
In this climate, the Hellenic Society of Imperial College has chosen to
invite Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, the Greek Minister of Health, to speak
about the Greek “national effort” to exit the crisis and the
“pan-European dimension” of this effort. Mr. Georgiadis is a staunch and
flamboyant supporter of the austerity cuts. His term of office in the
Ministry of Health has already been marked by the most violent reforms,
budget cuts and layoffs in the health sector since the beginning of the
crisis. Mr. Georgiadis’ policies are dictated by the troika and have
been imposed to every country receiving financial support from the IMF
in the past. The disastrous consequences of these austerity policies,
notably the preventable losses of human lives, have been demonstrated by
several reports, the most recent of which was published in The Lancet
journal. With health spending capped at 6% of GDP and no recruitments in
the public health sector in 3 years, public hospitals are severely
understaffed and face shortages in basic consumables. Despite that,
primary health care centres have been closed, imposing an extra burden
to the already overcrowded hospitals, and public-health workers face
layoffs. Meanwhile, with the number of state-subsided pharmaceuticals
drastically decreased and patient contributions increased, many patients
with chronic conditions (e.g. cancer, AIDS) are unable to cope with
expenses. Furthermore, it is estimated that 2.3 million people are
uninsured, practically lacking access to health services if they are
unable to pay. Finally, worsening living conditions and limited access
to health care have led to a resurgence of malaria and tuberculosis, the
levels of HIV infection are soaring among drug users, infant mortality
between 2008 and 2010 has risen by 43% and suicide, alcoholism and drug
use rates are spiking. Protests against the imposed policies were faced
by Mr. Georgiadis in a provocative way. The Minister has repeatedly
bullied doctors and medical staff on national television, putting the
blame on them for the existing problems, while advertising the need for
budget cuts. Whether it is acceptable to deprive a whole society of
basic health care in the name of debt repayment is a matter of debate.
Of course, other public services like higher education have not been
spared of austerity policies. Since 2009, the funding of public research
centres and universities has been cut by about 30% and 40%
respectively, the salaries of researchers and faculty members have been
cut by 40%, more than 1000 new lecturers have been placed into a
“waiting list” although they were elected years ago, more than 1700
administrative employees were put into a “suspension” scheme leaving
many universities understaffed, subscriptions to academic journals have
been halted for months and many departments are lead to merger or
closure. All these measures are coupled with frequent defamatory
comments against public universities by government members, including
Mr. Georgiadis who has openly promoted private institutions.
The rise of Mr. Georgiadis in Greek politics is a symptom of the
authoritarian, far-right turn of the Greek government. Many members of
the government have promoted xenophobia and racism, with the Prime
Minister himself stating that “We have to re-conquer our cities from
immigrants”. A 2010 law opening the door to citizenship for
second-generation immigrants has been repealed. Democratic institutions
are also under attack. The government passes controversial laws by
decree, one of which ordered the sudden closure of the state TV and
radio broadcaster last year. Several strikes have been outlawed in
advance using a “forced mobilisation order”, a concept originally
designed to be used in national emergencies. Mr. Georgiadis has been in
the vanguard of these developments. He has suggested that “left-wing
ideology has surrendered Greece to the hands of Muslims, transforming
Athens into a Taliban-land”. He has also said: “One of the goals *of the
government] is that they [immigrants] understand they are not welcome
in Greece. One of the ways to convince them is to frequently prosecute
them […] to make their life as difficult as possible so that they
understand it is time to go”. Mr. Georgiadis also has a history of
remarks about Jews (“all major banks belong to the Jews”, “the Jewish
lobby will determine the fate of Greece’s foreign debt”).
Therefore, the “effort” of Mr. Georgiadis and his government is all but
“national”. It is rather an effort towards increasing inequalities,
selling-off public property and turning against the weakest members of
society. The “pan-European dimension” of this effort can only be
interpreted as a call for the adoption of neoliberal policies across the
continent.
As Greek students, staff and alumni of Imperial College we strongly
oppose the invitation to Mr. Georgiadis. We want to make clear that the
few committee members of the Hellenic Society do not represent the
Greeks of IC and that they act based on their own political interests.
Most of us, as well as thousands of other Greeks in the UK and other
European countries, have been forced to leave Greece because of the
policies of Mr. Georgiadis’ government (and the governments preceding
it, which came from the exact same parties that are in power today).
Inviting someone with such a background to lecture on exiting the crisis
is quite ironic and surely problematic. On top of that, a person who
has so vehemently lashed out at Greek universities, which are the alma
mater of many current students and staff of IC, cannot be welcome here.
ΠΗΓΗ:avgi.gr