Repudiate the debt – it’s not the people’s debt
The CPI launched the Repudiate The Debt campaign in the run-up to the Irish general election in February 2011. This followed the government’s signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, presented by the infamous Troika (IMF, ECB, European Commission), in December 2010. The Irish state would use loans from the Troika to prop up the Irish (and by extension the European) banking system, which meant foisting the private banking debt onto the backs of the working class.
The CPI pointed out that the new “Economic Adjustment Programme” would mean that the interests of finance capital would be placed above those of the people. Under the slogan “It’s not the people’s debt!”, the CPI advocated the rejection of the EU-IMF straitjacket which would remove any democratic control over fiscal policy. It argued that sovereign wealth funds, such as Norway’s, could lend the state money without the same onerous terms as those imposed by the Troika.
A pamphlet outlining the CPI’s position, entitled “Repudiate the Debt: For a Better Future” was published. The CPI convened public meetings and its banners were prominent at anti-austerity marches.
