The de facto expected resignation of the former CEO of ELTA, Grigori Sklikashe came yesterday early afternoon as a natural consequence of the “wild” teleconference with ND MPs. The government’s desire would be for this to act as a release valve for a pressure that suddenly and unexpectedly piled up for Maximos himself. This, however, does not change the fact that a “low-level” case turned into a major intra-party, but also intra-governmental crisis, with harsh expressions and “nails”.
What the Maximos Palace is now looking for is a way out of this case, which has further tarnished the government’s image. Of course, as pointed out at yesterday’s meeting that took place in the morning at Megaros Maximos before the resignation of Mr. Sklikasthe government will not back down from the substance of the regulation. And this is because, according to competent sources, if the corporate restructuring does not go ahead, ELTA is viable for about 9 more months. “Resignation is one thing and reform is another. The decision to reform has been made and will be implemented,” government officials say.
Already yesterday he took over as interim CEO the deputy of Mr. Sklikas, Marios Temposwhile within the next month the Super fund to have proceeded to find a new CEO. He will have to rework the company’s restructuring plan, while later the Minister of Finance will enter the equation Kyriakos Pierrakakis who will be invited to discuss with the ND MPs about the next steps.
“The subject of the consultation is not whether to close the shops. It is what can be done in every local community so that none of our fellow citizens is left without service, just as it was foreseen from the beginning”, they emphasize from Maximou.
It should be noted that the blue MPs in their positions do not ignore the operational problem of ELTA, but say that there are other solutions that could have emerged through a consultation process, instead of the “sudden death” that was chosen.
Emancipation
The case in question and the way it developed, it should be noted, once again highlighted the weaknesses of Megaros Maximos in cases of crisis management. In this case, the reactions came from within the ND and suddenly escalated. Despite attempts to decompress over the weekend, the tension did not subside.
The attitude of Mr. Sklikas, who presented to the management, did not help at all MPs his choices as a one-way street, while in the teleconference that took place he got to talking about “parallel monologues”, igniting the climate. Competent sources estimate that, if it had been done the detailed explanation given by government representative Pavlos Marinakis yesterday and the day before, perhaps the worst had been avoided.
In this context, Mr. Mitsotakis seeks to promote other issues that particularly concern citizens. Yesterday, the plan for the OKAY which is estimated to get the green light to unblock payments by the end of November. Its details will be clarified today, while it is also on the table for the Prime Minister to go to the Parliament tomorrow Thursday to talk about the tax bill submitted by Kyriakos Pierrakakis and contains the TIF measures. In fact, on the “table” is also the request for a roll-call vote with the ND acting as an expediter.
No “blank check”
If the ELTA crisis has highlighted anything, it is that the ND MPs they no longer give a “blank cheque” to government initiatives. Some had warned a long time ago, but in the ELTA case the reaction was unanimous. In fact, the “shrapnel” of the deputies also take ministers who were involved in the case, in addition to Mr. Sklikas, who “paid the marble”.
The logical question is whether there will be a sequel in the next period. “No one wants to be a guerrilla for the sake of the guerrilla, nor to overthrow the government, but the balance has changed,” says an experienced MP. The complaints recorded in the daily fermentation of the “blue” MPs are many and varied, while the case of OPEKEPE seems to have opened serious wounds. Hence, during the teleconference discussion with Mr. Sklikas, many pointed out that the case of ELTA is coming to create additional pressure for them. In fact, it is said that ND MPs are weighing the scenario for a question specifically about the Superfund and its operation.
After all, as ND’s percentages in the opinion polls remain anemic and in any case far from self-reliancethe anxiety of re-election increases for many of the 156 “blues”, who do not let anything fall down, nor are they given to their internal party opponents, especially if they are ministers.