As “a total political confrontation” and not as a “battle” that concerns only the economy, the party president, Alexis Tsipras, called on the SYRIZA-PS MPs to watch the long debate in the Parliament on the Budget.
Speaking today in the party’s parliamentary group, in view of this debate, he said that “it may in fact for the governing majority traditionally have the character of a vote of confidence, but it also has the character of opposition, complaint and counter-proposal for the parties. of the opposition “.
“So we must see this confrontation as a total parliamentary battle of conflict with the implemented policy of Mitsotakis”, he stressed, noting that this is “a critical moment for the Greek society”, in a phase of “culmination” as he said of the “double pandemic”. : “From one of the health, which goes every day from bad to worse, with the country, in recent months, champion in all Western Europe in losses per million population and with the NSS collapsing” and which “forms objectively heavy responsibilities for the government and its manipulations “, and” on the other hand with the “pandemic” of precision, which has not yet peaked “.
Al. Tsipras estimated that “we are still on the rise of the phenomenon that affects very heavy households and businesses”, as “the frightening price increases in all products and especially the outrageous increases in electricity and energy bills take households and businesses out of budget and lead to rapid decline income and purchasing power “. “We must not overlook the fact that at the time of the debate in Parliament, the majority of professionals, farmers, employees and especially small and medium-sized enterprises are facing a frightening increase in production costs and income shrinkage, while households are facing its syndrome. third week. In other words, their money ends before the third week of the month is even completed “, he said characteristically.
He pointed out that “the Budget in numbers gives data of recovery, after the terrible recession of last year”, but, as he noted, “it is one thing to talk about sustainable development and another to talk about recovery, the rebound from the “Last year we had a drop in GDP close to 9 points.”
In this context, he described as a “critical” issue “whether this recovery will be inclusive, ie it will affect the majority of citizens, households and businesses or whether it will affect a few who will have an increase in profits even during the pandemic period. As well as “the sustainability, the perspective and the course of the Greek economy as a whole”.
“So it is not an exaggeration that in Mr. Mitsotakis Greece’s numbers are prosperous but people are suffering,” said the president of SYRIZA-PS and attacked the government for “presenting a budget, which considers the pandemic over and temporary wave of price increases and accuracy “,” a budget, that is, virtual reality and out of place and time “.
As he argued, “the reason why Mr. Mitsotakis and his government are submitting this off-site and out-of-time budget, ignoring the ongoing pandemic crisis and accuracy, is their commitments, which were reflected in the Medium-Term Approval approved last year. June, for fiscal adjustment in 2022 and 2023 of the order of 9 percentage points “. “This is a frightening fiscal adjustment amid a pandemic and the onset of the energy crisis,” he said, noting that the government has set a target of moving the primary deficit from 7% to 1% by the end of 2022 and to + 2% surplus in end of 2023 “.
“The fiscal adjustment of 9 points in two years is equivalent to the terrible fiscal adjustment that took place in 2013, the toughest memorandum period. “And it is extremely difficult to achieve without dramatic economic and social consequences and an explosion of inequality”, he warned and stressed that the criticism of the official opposition in the government “concerns both the imaginary image it cultivates for the country and the pandemic but also its refusal to support vulnerable social, economic and occupational groups due to the pandemic, due to its commitments in the medium term “. “As well as its reluctance to call for a revision of the Stability Pact from now on,” he said, adding that he was “absent” from the EU debate on “an alternative agenda to the failed austerity measures implemented in the past.” And instead proceeds to a “forecast-commitment” for 2% primary surplus in 2023.
“An important element of our criticism of the current budget is the planning of the allocation of European funds to the Recovery Fund. A design that puts the cart in front of the horse. It does not put forward needs and goals. It does not aim for inclusive sustainable development. It does not aim to alleviate inequalities and, above all, regional inequalities, or even to support small and medium-sized enterprises, the vast majority of which are completely excluded. “It does not aim to reduce unemployment,” said Al. Tsipras attributed to the government that “first he plans how he will distribute the money to large business groups and then based on the division he has pre-decided, he sees what goals can be achieved”.
“But even so, the government of Mr. Mitsotakis shows an unprecedented inefficiency to proceed in time to absorb this money. Already based on last year’s budget, they predicted a disbursement of 1.5 billion euros in 2022. This was revised during the deposit of the Medium Term to 650 million, to finally close the current year with a disbursement that as everything shows will not exceed 150 million. “, added and spoke of a very bad omen, which shows us that beyond the design and our basic opposition to the design structure or model of the Recovery Fund that throws out social needs and small and medium-sized enterprises, there is an issue and in relation to the absorption of resources, which the Mitsotakis government will deal with very strongly in the coming period “.
Continuing, the president of SYRIZA-PS underlined the “big problems of the Budget”, which, as he said, “concern what the average citizen experiences, the pandemic and the crisis of accuracy”: “the reduction of health expenditures”, ” the lack of spending to deal with accuracy “,” the structural budget failures that could lead to a terrible economic and social impasse from the very first months of next year “.
“Especially in the part of the health crisis, not only does it not foresee increased expenditures for Health, but on the contrary it also foresees a frightening reduction of expenditures of almost 800 million euros. This is a criminal decision “, said Mr. Tsipras and attributed to the Prime Minister that” he does not refuse to support the NSS only due to reluctance to spend for the welfare state but also out of ideological obsession, since he has left the public without support for two years Health system and health “. “Precisely because his perception of the economy and society is not the perception of a strong public space but of strengthening in any way the private sector even at the expense of the public,” he added.
Finally, Al. Tsipras stressed the need for criticism of the government “to always be enriched by proposals”, with the aim of highlighting “that there is another way out of the crisis with society standing”, “with measures to support social groups that continue to be affected”, with the reduction of the VAT on fuel, heating and diesel oil, agricultural oil “,” with the immediate increase of the minimum wage to 800 euros “.
“An initiative similar to those taken by other European countries (Spain, Portugal, Germany) as a measure to curb accuracy. “This is not just a pro-people policy, but a highly developmental one, given that in a time of crisis the purchasing power of the people is strengthened and this money will be able to move the market,” he said, calling the government’s argument that “no SMEs will endure “because” the proposal to increase the minimum wage is directly linked to a business support policy with our emblematic proposal to settle the pandemic debt with the provision of write-off and part of the basic debt “.
“It’s a debt that was created without the responsibility of the people who are doing business, they did not take business risk, they were forced to close. And it is a proposal – as we have the solvency to deposit it since we did the same for the insurance debts after the exit from the memoranda – that does not create a large financial burden, it may be very small or non-existent, since these debts “, unless conditions are created that will facilitate their repayment, they may never be repaid, with many companies facing padlocks, from which the State will collect absolutely nothing but debts”, he underlined and concluded:
“Towards the government and its policy, everyone should be placed on the basis of their own experiences, the sector and the region they represent.
Why should no one forget that in this battle in Parliament we represent our fellow citizens, who want to hear their problems, anxieties, demands and realistic proposals for their solution, away from ideological obsessions, incompetence and the inaction of the government of Mr. Mitsotakis “.
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