Troika? Never heard of it? Don’t worry! You will learn first hand when one unforgettable day the three inseparable friends (IMF, ECB & EC) visit your beautiful country, not for tourism but for a bailout! What? You are not in need of a bailout? That doesn’t matter, Troika offers its bailout policies at a competitive price. Besides, nobody asked you!
Many people are unaware of the strong role the Troika plays in the EU policies; mainly with regard to the countries in the South and East of Europe but with growing influence also in the North. With the May 2014 European Parliament elections getting closer, the Troika Party campaign is conceived as a tool that aims at raising awarenessin citizens but also at dismantling the current neoliberal narrative and unpack the role of the Troika in European decision making. There is not a focus on who to vote or not voting; we aim at people rethinking the concept of Europe and democracy.
All around Europe we are hammered with tailored messages that are becoming mantras we unconsciously repeat, hiding the real truth about the direction Europe is taking and its consequences. It is not only the European periphery that is affected by austerity measures, illegitimate debt, questionable bailouts, privatisations, loss of labour, civil and human rights, or attacks on natural resources. The North and the Centre should not feel jealous; it is a plan for all EU countries. The upcoming Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Competitiveness Pact or the weakening of democracy will hit us all.
The Troika Party is a fake political party with candidates that could well be Christine Lagarde, Durao Barroso, Mario Draghi or the ghost of Margaret Thatcher running for the European Parliament elections with slogans such as Vote for us and you will never have to vote again! and Democracy is not competitive!
Building upon successful campaigns in Spain, the Troika Party will raise awareness about the real nature of the Troika’s policies and its links with political parties and corporations. It will use satire, sarcasm and humour as tools to dismantle the neoliberal narrative, backed up with visual tools, street actions, use of social networks and ‘everyday language’ to explain to Europeans what is really happening behind the curtains. The project will offer access to serious and reliable sources of information, feeding from researchon the consequences of Troika’s policies.
We aim to create a cooperative and viral cross border open source advocacy tool for the 99%, that can be easily adapted by each group, network and country. The campaign will point at how this Europe is walking towards a nondemocratic model where finance and economic power have more say that citizens.
Is this the Europe we want? Are southern Europeans lazy?, have they lived above their standards?, are they responsible of creating debt? or do these mantras hide other reasons, the real reasons? Can we fight this narrative with an inclusive and effective discourse?
To answer all questions we will use humour as a tool to break through fear and empower each other, pointing out who are those responsible of this scam they call crisis. Name & shame!
This type of campaigning will play a key role in bringing political messages to sectors of the population that are not yet politicised, or even interested, contributing to the multi-level European struggle against the ‘EU crisis regime’. We will share a common campaign, tools, practices and methodologies that will strengthen us for future joint campaigns.
The project was launched between the 18th and 25th of February and has five main axes – TTIP, competitiveness, commons, debt and democracy – which will be dealt with in stages along with several other surprises. It will also make visible different struggles and alternative projects across Europe. It will end a few weeks before the European elections, to give way and focus attention on the European mobilizations and actions planned for May.
The team (working group and group of external collaborators) gathers people from many countries – France, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Turkey and England – with diverse experiences and skills, which provides excellent richness and diversity to the project.
Everyone is invited! The Troika Party fosters direct democracy and citizen initiatives:
Contact: the.troika.party[a]gmail.com
Web: www.troikaparty.eu
Twitter: twitter.com/TheTroikaParty
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheTroikaParty
Who are we and where was this project born? http://www.citizen-audit.net/a-european-square/
Movements and organisations from the whole European spectrum, North-South-East, gathered in Amsterdam, October 2013, to identify common priorities in the resistance to the neoliberal economic governance promoted by the EU. Different social actors ranging from citizens to individuals involved in different networks (Turkish, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish activists, the Spanish Citizen Debt Audit Platform – PACD, Transnational Institute – TNI, ICAN, Ecologistas en Acción o CADTM, among others) have come together to develop this project.