In his deposition in the Parliament, where the motion of censure against the government is being discussed, Mr. Skylakakis strongly criticized SYRIZA, accusing it that, during his days, he did not buy “a single screw” for defense, while for education he spent absolutely minimum.
“The present motion of censure has a peculiarity: It is submitted by an opposition official who is completely unfit to take over the governance of the country”. This is what Deputy Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis said in his speech on the motion of no confidence in the Parliament. Mr. Skylakakis stated that “such a bad official opposition is not a good development neither for the government nor for the country” and added: “This problem will not be solved by us but by the Greek people”.
According to the Deputy Minister for Fiscal Policy, as a government, SYRIZA failed miserably at all levels. “And when you were driven back into opposition, you understood neither why this happened nor the extent of your failure nor the consequences of failure. [..] You haven’t changed at all since then, and I’d say relative to 2019, you’ve probably gotten worse today since then.”
Mr. Skylakakis, who criticized the previous government for not buying “a single screw” for defense, said that he spent the absolute minimum on education. “And you are now selling young people the theory that they can have the goods of education, without acquiring it. You equate it – I see your spots – with carefreeness and dreaming, not with work and responsibility [..] You talk about Justice and continue to attack the basic tool of social inequalities. Mr. Skyalakis added, you did the same in Health, while also in immigration, where you had “abundant money”, instead of building modern facilities for a decent living for irregular immigrants and refugees, “you tolerated for years the absolute wretchedness of Moria. .”.
Regarding the Economy, he said that the previous government brought “incredible taxes” hitting all the incentives for investment, work and production: “And if you were to return to power this would immediately and rapidly worsen the economic reality in the country” said Mr. Skylakakis [..] And if you want to know why our own economic policy has succeeded [..] I’ll tell you the secret. We did the complete opposite of what you are doing.” As he said, “despite three huge external crises, (pandemic, war, and energy crisis at the same time, and an incredible threat from Turkey) we kept the economy and society afloat with massive, extraordinary but also innovative measures such as the refundable advance payment. At the same time, we invested and are permanently investing in health, education and social welfare with very significant costs and substantial modernization investments. We permanently reduced taxes and levies and completely changed the incentives in the economy. This is how we achieved the high growth rates. That’s how we drastically reduced unemployment, that’s how we reduced the public debt and we’re bringing in unprecedented investments.”
He even gave an example of “a random day”, today: “In terms of investments, we have the start of a huge public project, through the recovery fund, BOAK. At the same time, we have the signing of two investment contracts, one of 524 million euros, the interconnection of western Cyclades through DEDDIE, and another 180 million euros for a photovoltaic park investment in Amyntaio in the old lignite mine. In one day! Investments that you did not imagine in a year, in your period..”
And all this, Mr. Skylakakis continued, “resolutely strengthening the credibility of the economy vis-à-vis the institutions, the markets, and the rating agencies with a prudent and careful economic and fiscal policy, which has led to 11 upgrades, 13 positive evaluations, with the money that goes with it, full success in the milestones and disbursements of the recovery fund, and borrowing at half the spread since the SYRIZA period: These are our policies and this is how the Greek people’s view of yours and yours has been solidified our course”. Addressing the SYRIZA wing, he said that in the opinion polls, for seven consecutive years, an unprecedented record, you are in various second places. I have never experienced this incredible stability in Greek political history in recent decades. It is a harbinger of the political stability that we will have happily, and after the elections, said Mr. Skylakakis “and this is the most optimistic message for Greece. Because you, unfortunately, neither want to change, nor can you. That’s why to the motion of censure, you will get the appropriate response from the Parliament, on Friday, but most importantly, from the Greek people in the elections that are coming soon” concluded the Deputy Minister of Finance.-
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have been an author at News Bulletin 247 for the past 2 years. I mostly cover politics news. I am a highly experienced and respected journalist. I have won numerous awards for my work.
