#DoYouRemember? — Varoufakis’ funky shirt caused quite a stir
Accusations of treason against him were overshadowed by his outfit.
Photos: Panayotis Tzamaros / FOS Photos
The day was July 31st 2015 and the Greek Parliament was in session. They had a lot to discuss; a new bailout package had been proposed and SYRIZA MPs were much divided on the issue.
A leaked recording earlier that week revealed that Yanis Varoufakis had authorised an internal ‘hack’ of Greece’s tax registry to prepare for the creation of a parallel payments system to strengthen Greece’s hand in its bailout negotiations. He had resigned from his post as Finance Minister only two weeks earlier, pointing to “other European participants” in the talks expressing their wish for his absence.
On that day, however, he wore a funky shirt. Attention was diverted from such serious matters. Images of his eccentric attire circulated the media worldwide, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras jumped at his defense. Trying him for treason for devising an emergency plan in case Greece left the Eurozone would be a mistake, the PM said.
“You can blame him all you want for his comments, for his political plans, for his bad taste in shirts, for his holidays on the island of Aegina,” he told Bloomberg.
“But you can’t say that he is a crook, you can’t say that he stole the money of the Greek people, you can’t say that he had a secret plan to lead the country onto the rocks.”
It’s been two years since that day, and the tables have turned. Varoufakis resigned from his parliamentary seat on August 14th 2015. In his eyes, it was the only way to combine his loyalty to the party with his strong opposition to the bailout agreement. He is a founding member of DiEM25, an attempt to restructure the left in Europe.
In his new book, “Adults in a Room,” he provides a chilling account of talks between European leaders. He also claimed that PM Tsipras was on board with every single one of his strategic moves and has ordered him to come up with a “plan X” for Grexit.
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