“The cooperation government presupposes political agreement on program convergences. In Greece there is no established culture of cooperation and at the given moment there is not even the required political raw material for cooperative governments”, says Yiannis Oikonomou in an interview with Sunday’s Apogeumatini newspaper.

The deputy minister next to the prime minister adds that Mr. Androulakis is on the way to a meeting with SYRIZA. “They are fighting over the legacy of 1981 without understanding that they are dealing with something that is closer to 1940 than 2023. Also, Mr. Androulakis exudes anger against New Democracy and the prime minister, which leads him to politically absurd positions, such as to nominate the unknown X as prime minister. In conditions of international and regional instability, Greece is required to have a self-reliant, stable and fast-reacting Government“, he says.

Regarding the possibility of the formation of a government by SYRIZA, PASOK and MERA25 notes: “Their agendas are close and converge in that they are focused on the past and they are united by outdated historical and practical ideologies, but also by the rage against Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In fact, they do not rule out the prospect of a defeated government, but they obscure and confuse the citizens with rhetoric. Besides, it appeared just the day before yesterday that Mr. Varoufakis and part of SYRIZA are also preparing a plan for a parallel currency. Also, in the debate, Mr. Tsipras’ attempt to build bridges was evident».

Regarding the priorities of the second four-year period, Mr. Economou notes the following:The priorities are clear and declared. A new New Democracy government is ready and fully prepared to increase wages, bringing them to the level of the European average over a four-year horizon. We also have the plan and resources to move forward with the complete modernization of public health, addressing any deficiencies in infrastructure and personnel. Finally, our main direction is the completion of the digitization of the state. Alongside these, we will boldly and strongly continue our work in all the other areas, in which we have already produced rich work: in defence, education, pensions, infrastructure and everything else».

It also asks about investment grade: “Our economy, in terms of indicators and sizes, is ready for the upgrade and recovery of the investment level, which is expected to take off the growth and growth rates of our economy, in all its manifestations. And it is ready because in the last four years we have done a lot of work, which has been recognized and rewarded with multiple upgrades by international independent rating agencies. However, these houses have made it clear that the final step, the recovery of the investment grade, requires a stable independent government of the New Democracy. New Democracy has brought the country this far and investors trust New Democracy. How to trust those who want to blow up the banks or plan a parallel currency?».

He also responds to SYRIZA accusing the prime minister of adding last-minute announcements: “Throughout the four-year period, the Prime Minister turns economic progress into a social advantage, supporting more those strata that are most affected by the successive international crises. Therefore, he simply continues, and will continue as long as he is prime minister, to support society and businesses. Support coming from the surplus outperformance of the economy. SYRIZA, which wants to say that it is a pro-people party and cares about the youth, seems to be hypocritical, since it accuses us of helping society. SYRIZA was a party that took and did not give, we the other way around».

In addition, he also responds to the opposition’s criticism of accuracy: “Obsessive is the opposition, which does not want to accept the empirically confirmed: both in Greece and in other European countries, the reduction of VAT did not lead to a reduction in prices. VAT reduction is cheap words. It looks like a solution, but it isn’t. The Government, with design and sincerity, has implemented a series of policies that have directly empowered consumers to respond to the introduced precision. As it happened with electricity bills, so with the accuracy of goods we will reach, step by step, the point where it will cease to be a problem. The accuracy will go away, but the increase in income will be permanent».

The deputy minister next to the prime minister is also positioned for Greek-Turkish relations: “The success of our foreign policy is due to the fact that we took the situation into our own hands, without defining ourselves differently. We are strengthening our national defense with both modern equipment and strong alliances. From a position of power, we are now open to dialogue, but with the condition of absolute respect for international law, international conventions and treaties. We are fully prepared for any eventuality and seek the best outcome of the situation”.