“I am constantly next to the citizen and his problems”
The president of PASOK-Movement for Change expressed the belief that “there is now an irreversible course for New Democracy”, Nikos Androulakis, in an interview with SKAI, arguing that “because PASOK has a program, responsibility and strategy towards New Democracy, I think that in the end it will be the factor that will surprise and be victorious in the next elections”.
The president of PASOK-KINAL said that he receives this appreciation by moving in society and responding to the problems and anxieties of the citizens. “I went to Thessaly, which faces the big problem of smallpox, I was there with the farmers and breeders. This tragic incident happened in Crete, I was there. For the problems with ELTA, I traveled to Northern Greece. Because I am constantly next to the citizen, I see the climate of the society. The climate of society today is very negative for the government, because it took the trust of the Greek people twice and has denied it”he said.
On the protests of the farming world, he commented that he saw the image of a prime minister who said he would talk to the representatives of the primary sector “and was not there to discuss with them, listen to them and give them solutions”. “These people heard the prime minister’s right-hand man call them ‘comfortable’,” he added. He commented that “the… “comfortable”” are the ones who should have received half a billion euros from OPEKEPE by October 31, “but the government did not pay the primary sector”, plus last year’s owed half a billion. According to Mr. Anroulakis, the government owes one billion to these people, “who are at their limits” and at the same time their production costs have increased by 30-40%.
For the high energy costs he noted that “strategic ally of the government are the oligarchs”, as “the energy space was given priority to those and not to the real producers, who are hostage to the increased prices, while some others make billions”. “This is not a ‘green’ transition. This is business”, he added, accusing the government of “doing business with the big energy players and this can be seen from the way the energy space was distributed in the country”. He emphasized that “one of the biggest scandals of the Kyriakos Mitsotakis era is the way the energy space was distributed and the way connection conditions were prioritized”.
Regarding the OPEKEPE scandal, the president of PASOK pointed out that the rural world saw “a “blue” gang hijacking OPEKEPE with the backs of Voridis, Avgenakis, general secretaries and in the end, when the case file came, the prime minister did not allow the responsibilities of the ministers to be investigated by the Greek judiciary, with an unprecedented procedure, sending his deputies to go to sleep early and let half of them vote by mail.”
Asked to comment on the position of the government representative, earlier in the same show (s.b. “The Mismatches”), that the issue of ELTA also has a fiscal valuation, Mr. Androulakis underlined: “Are all the services offered by the state subject to a fiscal rule and a single fiscal valuation? She exists too. Are we discussing the social value of a service?” Among other things, he stated that “some services are not valued only fiscally. And these are health, it is also the state presence in remote areas because Greece does not have the geography of either Denmark or the Netherlands. We are a highly mountainous and insular country and we must value these services in other ways if we want to serve the national and public interest.” “Mr. Marinakis should also tell us the cost of direct assignments to New Democracy candidate MPs, to New Democracy MEP candidates and the cost of direct assignments without deliverables. Because the Greek people must understand that there was also a party of corruption in ELTA, see Patsis”, he noted.
The president of PASOK spoke in detail about his initiative regarding the use of weapons in Crete, while commenting that the inability of the ND to create security conditions is called a “legislative gap”. “The minister comes and announces: ‘We will ban the use of pistols at weddings and festivals.’ And he didn’t know that since 2011 there is a law that makes it a felony to own and carry weapons at festivals, weddings and events,” he emphasized, adding that “there is no legislative gap. There is no will.” Speaking about the extended meeting that took place in Heraklion last Monday with the institutional local bodies, he pointed out that the Phaistos Police Department cannot be understaffed and “it is not possible for the Mesara Police Department – while there is indeed a PD for its establishment from 2022 and the facilities have been found – not to have started its operation”. He also said that it is not possible not to have educational school programs on conflict resolution issues and not to support the role of women. “We must use all the tools that a state has and security and education,” he emphasized.
Regarding Greek-Turkish relations, Mr. Androulakis said that “Erdogan’s cable and presence at the UN proves that Turkey is not changing its strategy. Let’s talk, but without illusions.” He commented that “unfortunately, New Democracy is not delusional, it deals with very serious issues in communicative terms. That is, when you keep saying that we have “calm waters” while Turkey is obstructing the laying of the Israel-Cyprus-Crete energy union cable, then you are probably mocking the Greek people”. He added that he has asked the Prime Minister three times in Parliament to tell him the timetable and he answers that the investment will be made and brings him papers from the company that “the investment continues”. He noted that the people should know the schedule of an investment of several million euros, a large part of which is paid for by European programs “and in which the EU should also have entered into this game”. “Because when you give your money for a project that does not allow a third country to be implemented, then Mr. Mitsotakis must go to the Council and say: “Come here, what will we all do together against a rioter who does not allow respect for the sovereign rights of a European country?”, he emphasized to add that these did not happen and that “the prime minister is responsible for that”.
Against the backdrop of the Prime Minister’s meeting with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, he expressed the hope “that the public dispute between Cyprus and Greece over the cable, which was unprecedented, will be “collected”. “I don’t know whose responsibility it was. I can tell you, however, that since there is publicly a confrontation between two parties that have fixed strategies and national relations, I think there is definitely a responsibility on the side of our country,” he continued.
Asked about the political plans of Alexis Tsipras, the president of PASOK-KINAL commented that “whoever wants, here is a brilliant field of glory, to be judged by the Greek people in the next national elections”. “Memory exists and I think that personally I have not used the practices of either Mr. Tsipras or Mr. Mitsotakis and the Greek people can trust me on this course to change the country’s page,” he pointed out.
Speaking about the poll findings he said that “the world is disillusioned, disillusioned” and how it “accumulates in the zone of undecideds, because a perception has passed – and this is the game of ND – that we are all the same”. He emphasized that “we are not all the same” and noted: “Personally, I neither deceived the Greek people, nor divided the Greek people, nor did I steal money from the Greek people, creating a veil of impunity for the executives who are next to me, nor did I wiretap, nor did I say that I would tear up the memos, and I brought all the public property to the Superfund for 99 years, undermining the economy and the development of the country”. He said that everyone will be judged in the elections and added that his message is simple: “Either the people will have one of the same or something else different, which I will offer.” “And I think I have a high credibility index that we will implement our program to reduce inequalities, to have a competitive economy and a strong social state throughout Greece”, concluded Mr. Androulakis.