Greece deal lands in uncertain territory

Hours before marathon talks on bailout modalities were to begin; a former Greek finance minister has forecast that they are doomed to fail. This statement cannot be brushed aside as it has come from a person who was considered to be the architect of the anti-austerity doctrine that Athens had been negotiating with international lenders. Yanis Varoufakis, whose resignation was seen as a conciliatory gesture towards the eurozone financial wizards, as he had fallen out with them, believes that his cash-strapped country will be back to square one and the so-called deal will go down in history as the greatest disaster of macroeconomic mismanagement.
Greece was hoping for an instant cash tranche of ?86 billion in exchange for introducing reforms that could have consoled the international donors, especially the European Commission, to a great extent. But now it seems Varoufakis's assessment will go a long way in molding public opinion and might also impact the smooth implementation of the deal.
What it literally means is that Greece was left with a poor choice - either to become a political martyr or get away with whatever peanuts the donors were willing to dole out, and Athens made the worst choice of capitulation for reasons of exigency.
It is also very likely that Varoufakis could emerge as the alternative political voice for the debt-laden country, leading to more speculative theories in times to come as to how better Greece can manage its woes. Notwithstanding what Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has to say, one thing is for sure: the deal has landed in an uncertain territory and there are bound to be many a slip between the cup and the lip.