The conflict between Mitsotakis and Tsipras in Parliament and the pre-election “map”

By Penelope Galliou

The “route” that Megaro Maximos will follow on the way to the polls, regardless of when they will be set up, was outlined by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis from the floor of the Parliament, unfolding his strategy. A strategy, which is based on the juxtaposition and inevitable comparison of the policies of the ND government with those of the previous SYRIZA. From the floor of the Parliament, although Kyriakos Mitsotakis appeared unyielding in his intention that the elections be held at the end of the constitutional term of the government, both he and the Alexis Tsiprasthey gave intense pre-election tone in the debate, with the Prime Minister, in a kind of account, referring to all the deeds of his three-year administration as well as to what has been launched or planned for the next period and, on the other hand, Alexis Tsipras maintaining the pattern of polarization he has chosen recently , insisting on calling for elections to hasten political change, he says.

“I have told you many times that the elections will be held at the end of the four years and you seem not to listen. But life itself will confirm my words. From then on when the time of the elections comes we will indeed say what we remember from four years of Tsipras: taxes, pension cuts and lies, lies” said the prime minister in response to the repeated and pressing demand of the official opposition leader for an early appeal to the polls.

“It is time to stop plucking the daisy and declare with democratic honor that the country will be led to elections in September. Let’s agree on the terms and rules of the electoral contest” Alexis Tsipras called Kyriakos Mitsotakis, talking about need for political change “Enough three years. The dilemma is polls whenever you set them up is simple. Political change and the nightmare end or nightmare without end,” he emphasized, repeating his slogan against the ND government.

The dilemmas of the two leaders

The prime minister raised it dilemma of the next election regardless of when these will be done by pointing out how “if the dilemma of the next elections concerns stability and security then I am afraid that you are starting from a very disadvantageous position in terms of how Greek society perceives the successes of the Greek government” he added “The country needs stable governments and when elections are held the bomb of simple proportionality will be defused and the country will have a self-sufficient government”.

Alexis Tsipras, for his part, said that he expects the formation progressive cooperation governmentonce again winking at PASOK-KINAL and Nikos Androulakis.

“We are making a full-frontal attack on the ND and not a two-front. Those who want a social democratic government, should rule out any cooperation with the ND”, he said, calling on the president of PASOK to rule out cooperation with the ND.

“We are waging a one-front fight against the ND because this government must go before the damage to the country becomes unbearable. For others, things are simple: All they have to do is do the obvious thing on the Monday after the election. Those who proclaim that they want a progressive – and even a social democratic – government have nothing but to expressly and categorically exclude from now on any thought of cooperation with the ND of Mr. Mitsotakis in order for their words and declarations to have meaning,” he said.

The comparison ND- SYRIZA

At the center of the political confrontation was the course of the Greek economywith special references to the social policy exercised by the ND government during its three years of government and in fact under the pressure of the crises it had to face, starting with the pandemic and then the international energy crisis and precision crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, with the two political leaders contrasting the policies pursued by their parties.

“We bottomed out at 650 and took him up to 713. SYRIZA overtaxed the middle class to cut or reduce over thirty taxes. Made 17 cuts to pensions. Since summer ’19 only increases” said the prime minister harshly criticizing the choices of the SYRIZA government. “In 2015, people were crowding outside the banks. I could just start with the images of the elderly who were crying,” the prime minister recalled, also recalling what happened during the Tsipras government’s referendum “Send the Greek people to the ballot box to say no and do a grandiose backflip and bring a third memorandum” he noted, with Alexis Tsipras looking back to the period before 2015. “Instead of talking about what you delivered to us in 2015 and being ashamed, you are asking us for the rest,” said the SYRIZA president, addressing the ND faction while referring to the current energy crisis he spoke of Mitsotakis accuracy “The average energy inflation in the EU is at 39% and in Greece it is at 61. This 22% is Mitsotakis accuracy” he said.

Peak point and the national ones

The duel between the two political leaders extended to national issues, with a peak recent NATO meeting alla and the attitude of our country in the war declared by Russia against Ukraine, with Alexis Tsipras questioning the actions of the Greek side and seeing the “favor” of the American President Joe Biden towards the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. “Your plane didn’t land and we heard President Biden say that there will be an F-16 sale and upgrade,” the SYRIZA president remarked, with the prime minister replying, “You’re referring to a long process that is apparently still in congress today there is no disposition to approve.” Kyriakos Mitsotakis also shot down SYRIZA’s criticism of the government’s foreign policy, posing the question “If Greece was so damaged and Turkey so gained, how can I explain Erdoğan’s crude interference in internal affairs and the urge not to vote for Mitsotakis?”.

Alexis Tsipras also criticized the sending of defense material from Greece to Ukraine, with the prime minister meaningfully pointing out that “If we didn’t send, we would be the only ones in Europe and the only one who would be happy with it would be Putin”, leaving spikes for the stop of Koumoundourou.

Heavy talk for Novartis

The confrontation was also sparked by the judicial developments in the Novartis case.

Closing his statement, the official opposition leader called the prime minister unrepentant. “Mr. Georgiadis said an apology, you nothing, you didn’t say an apology. I didn’t say that someone is guilty until proven guilty. I was saying I wish he was innocent. You called them gang members, underworld. You are doing the same now for Mr. . Papagelopoulos. You have no idea. Until proven guilty, Papagelopoulos is innocent, justice will judge, not you. Are you serious? You are the prime minister of the country. Take an attitude of responsibility” he said.

The prime minister responded to the fire of the president of SYRIZA, stressing that “There is an indisputable fact. And that is that two leading former ministers of SYRIZA, very close associates of yours, are being taken to the special court with serious criminal offences. They did not recommend him for Nobel (including Mr. Papagelopoulos), in the special court for it’s a felony and you applaud him. Mr. Papagelopoulos is being referred for abuse of power and gross interference with justice in order to target political figures without evidence for the Novartis case as well as for other methods. You chose a nice bud for Minister of Justice.” he said addressing the SYRIZA wing. Escalating his attack on Mr. Tsipras, Mr. Mitsotakis pointed out that “a special court will be set up and those who will sit on the bench are your infamous moral advantage. This is sitting on the bench of the special court, this dark period that you attempted to control the joints of power. The institutions resisted, democracy resisted” he noted and added “”I will take you to the end”, you said. There will not be a second time for you because the first time was so traumatic. The Greek people have a crisis and compare and he knows well who brought the country out of the impasse and kept democracy strong” concluded the prime minister”.

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