“There is chaos between reality and how the prime minister understands it”, says the president of SYRIZA-PS in his interview today
Harsh and all-out attack on the government and the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, unleashes the president of SYRIZA-PS, Alexis Tsipras.
In today’s interview with “Documento”, after stating that “there is chaos between reality and how the prime minister understands it”, he adds: “The country and Greek society are experiencing a dystopia. We are breaking one after another, all the negative records. In the pandemic with over 30,000 dead, we are in first place in Europe. The electricity price is the highest in Europe. The prices of petrol and basic necessities also give us the European medal for accuracy. Both for the government, however, and for “update 108″ it’s like living in another country, which is in the constellation of multiple success stories”.
Households are not making ends meet
The president of SYRIZA-PS refers to accuracy by saying: “Accuracy is the big problem these days, which concerns millions of households. It is not a matter of percentages, image, propaganda. They can’t make the month, that’s the point. They cut not only from entertainment and “extras” but also from necessities and yet the money runs out in the third week. You’ve seen the dizzying prices announced recently. How will businesses and households cope? The current has crippled not incomes, but lives…”.
As for the government’s argument that the problem is due to external factors, he says: “First of all, accuracy showed its teeth in Greece before the war broke out in Ukraine. But obviously the inflationary crisis has global characteristics. No one overlooks it. But energy inflation in the EU from May ’21 to May ’22 was recorded at 39% and in Greece at 62%. Well, this extra 23% that gives us the negative lead is the Mitsotakis precision, which comes to be added to the objective price increase at the international level. And her twin sister, the swindler, is also a Mitsotakis swindler. Look at the super profits of energy producers. From July ’21 to June ’22 it is 2.2 billion. Cheers to the fools…”.
“Mr. Mitsotakis acts like the long arm of profiteering”
He then lays the blame on the prime minister: “Mr. Mitsotakis ultimately functions as the long arm of profiteering in society. He stubbornly refuses the ceiling on prices, when in France the French PPC has been nationalized. He refuses under various pretexts to elementary tax the surplus profits, although he was forced in the Parliament, under our own pressure, to promise this. And so we see that Greece is a champion in electricity and gasoline prices at the same time that it is in the last places in Europe in terms of wages. Households and businesses are paying, in two words, for Mr. Mitsotakis’ obsession with serving the cartels at the expense of society.”
Discounting information and democracy
However, he assigns huge responsibility “to the government and the prime minister for the reduction of information, the soul of democracy, to party propaganda, but also personal”. He cites the Reporters Without Borders report, which ranks Greece in 108th place, and adds: “It is typical of the ESR data for the promotion of parties by national channels, which refer to authoritarian regimes. The concealment of facts that do not serve the government’s narrative, their distortion as well as the distortion of the opposition’s positions, the “line” from Maximou on all major and minor issues, the inscrutable murder of Karaivaz by a government elected with the slogan “law and order”, the surveillance of journalists, the lists of shame for the unqualified state funding, the humiliation of public television with SOS messages so that photos of Mr. Mitsotakis with Lignadis would not be uploaded, and of course the prosecutions of journalists, such as K Vaxevani and G. Papadakou, reveal a gloomy field in information”.
PPC under public control
As for what SYRIZA would do to deal with energy poverty and accuracy, he says: “I will tell you first of all what we would not do. We would not gradually close the lignites to please the investment of some at the expense of energy security. We would not hand over PPC to speculation, when the crisis was already knocking on the door of the country… And of course we would impose a ceiling on energy prices, we would immediately put PPC under public control, and don’t ask me how. As it should and as it is. Even if we had to nationalize, we would. Macron did it here. PPC can and must operate with public utility criteria. We would also impose strict price controls on all essentials and reduce Excise Duty on fuel and VAT on basic food items. And finally we would tax the true super profits. We wouldn’t play theater. And even a shadow theater with the prime minister as the protagonist”.
National Wildfire Plan
Mr Tsipras reiterated that the fires are a “national tragedy” and added: “If we all agree, and I think we do, that the repeated fire tragedy is a national tragedy, then we will also agree that it cannot be treated in terms of self-admiration, division, and communication… It is not enough to denounce every time the inadequacies of the state apparatus and the major problems of coordination, which were also revealed in the last catastrophic fires. We must before it is too late to understand that the problem transcends party boundaries, the boundaries of a four-year government, and we must deal with it in terms of national seriousness and duration.”
Mr. Mitsotakis’ lack of empathy
But he focuses on the prime minister accusing him of a lack of empathy and “explains”: “When we talk about empathy we are talking about the emotional identification with the mental state of others, understanding their motivations and attitude. Mr. Mitsotakis was distinguished throughout his administration by a serious lack of this political and human characteristic. He does not understand reality, he is unable not only to identify, but also to understand society and its needs, to feel the feelings of ordinary people. With the pandemic, he went for carefree walks in Parnitha and had fun in Ikaria, breaking the self-imposed quarantine. At the same time, he was pursuing the young people with great ferocity with the Police, because they were allegedly spreading the virus. Now, to be precise, it shows an image that everything is going well and Greece is experiencing moments of happiness.”
Continuing the personal attack, he also refers to the “agricultural aid received by the prime minister”: “When the prime minister of the country, a rich politician indeed as his connections show, asks for and receives agricultural aid of a few thousand euros, why does he do it? Does he miss that money? No. It’s just that the person who deals from morning to night with image and communication cannot understand that this is a very bad signal to society for him. He cannot understand the feelings caused by his attitude.”
We must be vigilant in national matters
On foreign policy and national issues, he says: “I think we should be concerned, or rather vigilant. To be ready to defend the integrity of the country and its international position. But calmly and without jerky movements. This requires consensus on the basics, on the red lines we have established. There is no room for partisan disputes and disputes. On the other hand, however, we should also be concerned about the IX foreign policy pursued by Mr. Mitsotakis… We need another foreign policy, which will have stability and peace as a fixed agenda. And it will combine the most decisive attitude towards Turkish challenges with the most systematic effort to open avenues of dialogue with Turkey.
Ukrainian: pursuit of peace
For the Ukrainian, after stating that Europe is shooting itself in the foot, he adds: “I believe that the pursuit of peace must return to the top of the European agenda. Otherwise, no one feels safe anymore about where this global showdown might lead, given that Russia also has great capabilities, stamina, and important alliances. A modern version of peaceful coexistence is, I believe, more necessary than ever.”
We are ready for elections
Regarding his request for early elections, he states: “If we are talking about seriousness, the one who has been playing with the elections for months is Mr. Mitsotakis. He created an election climate, nominated candidates, leaked even the date and then backtracked. But since everything, including the elections, is managed in terms of a profit-making fund, no one knows when he will decide that it is in his interest to set up polling stations. So we are ready. From here on, what is important for us and I believe for the majority of our people is for this government to leave. Every day that goes by, Mr. Mitsotakis is piling up disasters in the country, spreading a climate of decay and corruption in society, eroding the rule of law, breaking the suffering social cohesion. Let them go before it’s too late, that’s our position. And that a progressive government with the goal and vision of social justice and democratic renaissance undertakes the reconstruction of the country. With transparency, honesty, and dedication to the people and the truth.”
The rule of law has suffered in recent years
On the occasion of the attempt to monitor the president of PASOK-KINAL, he states: “The Rule of Law has been suffering in the country for the last three years. The alliance of Mr. Mitsotakis with large financial interests and the dominance this gives him in the media, has created in him and his associates a sense of uncontrollable omnipotence. They are doing things that no other government has attempted to do, at least not without significant political cost.” Indicatively, he states: “In what other country would there be confirmed allegations of the surveillance of the phones of journalists and political leaders by illegal software and there would not be a political earthquake?” These are only happening in the Greece of Mr. Mitsotakis, who ordered a staff state and finally created a state of small arms and loot. Private and party. This regime dystopia, however, must end. And for it to end, in addition to the popular verdict, the common stance of all the democratic parties of the opposition, but also of every democratically minded citizen, obviously also within the conservative faction, is necessary. Because it is not a matter of partisan confrontation. It’s a matter of democracy.”
RES-EMP
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