213.000 personas dicen "No" a la mercantilización del agua, en un referéndum declarado ilegal por el gobierno griego

El referéndum de agua de Tesalónica fue un momento de empoderamiento colectivo, donde se ha recuperado un poco de la dignidad arrebatada por 4 años de austeridad y despojo. 

por Theodoros Karyotis

Según un viejo lema, “Si las elecciones pudieran cambiar las cosas, serían ilegales”. Pues parece que el referéndum sobre la privatización del agua organizado el 18 de mayo por los ciudadanos de Tesalónica, en el norte de Grecia, sí que puede cambiar las cosas, ya que el gobierno griego lo declaró ilegal el día anterior y amenazó con detener los 2000 voluntarios que instalaron urnas en el exterior de los 192 colegios electorales, al mismo tiempo que las elecciones municipales, por “obstrucción del proceso electoral”.

En Grecia, como en muchos otros países anteriormente, el capitalismo del desastre ha utilizado la crisis de la deuda soberana como excusa para impulsar una agresiva campaña de saqueo neoliberal: Ataque a los derechos laborales, sociales, y políticos de la población, desmantelamiento del sistema de salud y educación, despojo masivo a través de mega-proyectos mineros, y privatización de todo lo que constituye la riqueza pública. Como parte de los términos del "memorándum" oneroso impuesto por el FMI, en 2011 el gobierno anunció sus planes de privatizar EYATH, la empresa estatal que proporciona servicios de agua y saneamiento al 1,2 millón de habitantes de Tesalónica. Suez, la trasnacional francesa del sector del agua, y Mekorot de Israel fueron muy rápidas en expresar su interés en EYATH y han avanzado ya a la segunda fase de la licitación pública. El precio de venta de EYATH se calcula alrededor de €100 millones, una suma escandalosa tomando en cuenta que la empresa tiene beneficios de €20 millones al año, y dispone ya de un capital de alrededor de €50 millones, que el comprador heredará.

A pesar del chantaje y la propaganda, los ciudadanos de Tesalónica y sus organizaciones llevan años oponiéndose a los planes del gobierno de vender la empresa. Han conseguido poner el tema en la agenda pública y proporcionar pruebas concretas sobre como la privatización de los servicios de agua en todo el mundo ha conducido invariablemente a aumentos en las tarifas, deterioro de la infraestructura, disminución de la calidad del agua, y exclusión de grandes sectores de la población del acceso a este bien común vital. Los trabajadores de la empresa apelaron al Consejo de Estado (el tribunal administrativo supremo de Grecia) sobre la constitucionalidad de la privatización, y mientras hay una decisión pendiente, el proceso de privatización está parado.

En este contexto, los numerosos colectivos e instituciones que defienden el agua como bien común y derecho humano, con el apoyo moral y material de los 11 consejos municipales de la zona, trabajaron codo a codo para llevar a cabo un plebiscito informal con la pregunta: “¿Está a favor de la privatización de la empresa de agua y saneamiento? ¿Sí o No?”, y así intensificar la presión política contra la privatización de EYATH.

People vs. corporate rule: Some personal notes from my participation in Thessaloniki’s great #vote4water referendum

A personal assessment of the grassroots referendum that took place in Thessaloniki on May 18 regarding water privatization. You can read all about the background to the referendum here.

Theodoros Karyotis

May 2014

First, on the quantitative side: 

About 2000 volunteers set up ballot boxes outside the 192 electoral centres of the 11 municipalities of Thessaloniki’s metropolitan area, at the same time as the municipal elections taking place inside. Numerous groups and citizens’ initiatives worked side by side to carry out the plebiscite, with the infrastructural and moral support of the 11 municipal councils. A few volunteers, intimidated by the government’s threats to arrest the organizers for "obstructing the electoral process", failed to show up, however the coordinating groups moved people around quickly and covered the vacancies. There were minor incidents, with some police guards refusing to hand the ballot boxes to the organizers, but legal counsellors intervened successfully in all cases.

218.000 people cast their vote, about 34% of registered voters. Compare this to 55% of registered voters who participated in the municipal elections. More than half of those who voted inside the electoral centres also voted in the referendum. Had the ballot boxes been inside the schoolyards, in central easy to find places, this figure would have been much higher. Unfortunately the government disregarded the organizers’ call and banished them from the yards, often to inaccessible spots away from the entrances.

98% of the vote was for “NO” to privatizing Thessaloniki’s water and sewerage company. The reason for this “North Korean” kind of figure is twofold: First, Thessalonikeans are overwhelmingly against privatization. Opinion polls before the referendum showed opposition to privatization to be as high as 75%. Second, the government, through statements by Thessaloniki’s conservative mayoral candidate and a memo by the Minister of Interior, gave the “party line” to its supporters: The referendum is “illegal” and “of questionable validity”. Thus many conservative voters stayed away from the ballot boxes, although as many of them voted on the “NO” side.

Hundreds of volunteers stayed up until 4.00 in the morning counting the votes, in a mixed state of exhaustion and euphoria, under the supervision of Thessaloniki’s Barristers Association and dozens of international observers. The results were displayed live at vote4water.gr.

Now, on the qualitative side:

18 May, Thessaloniki's water referendum: One no, many yeses

Read about the process and outcome of the referendum here.

In order to open the democratic dialogue on which is the most socially and environmentally responsible model of water management, the citizens of Thessaloniki first have to confront the threat of privatisation.

Theodoros Karyotis

May 2014

Thessaloniki is a lively sprawling metropolis located in the north of Greece. As with the rest of the country, it is affected by increasing unemployment and poverty, a result of the government's Troika-dictated policies, which have driven the economy into a deep recession.

In Greece, as in many other countries in the past, disaster capitalism has utilized the sovereign debt crisis -that it also helped produce- as an excuse to push forward an aggressive campaign of neoliberal plunder: Attack on the populations' social, political and labour rights, dismantling of the health and education system, massive dispossession through mega-mining projects, and privatisation of everything that constitutes the public wealth. Again, as in many other cases, the government and the media are mindlessly repeating neoliberalism's favourite mantra: "there is no alternative".

In this context, as part of the terms of the loathed "memorandum" imposed by the IMF, in 2011 the government announced its plans to privatize EYATH, the state-managed company providing the city's 1.5 million inhabitants with water and sanitation services. Suez, the water sector giant, was quick to express interest in profitable EYATH. As of May 2014, the privatization process is underway, and two bidders, French Suez and Israeli Mekorot, have advanced to the second phase of the public tender.

Despite the blackmail and propaganda, the citizens of Thessaloniki and their organizations have been opposing the government's plan to sell off the company for three years now. They have managed to put the issue in the public agenda and provide concrete evidence on how privatisation of water services worldwide has invariably led to increases in tariffs, deterioration of the infrastructure, decrease in water quality, and the exclusion of great parts of the population from access to this vital common good.