The first debate ahead of the elections, between the government representative Yannis Economou and to the representative of SYRIZA Popi Tsapanidou took place on ERT.

The people will compare the work of the two governments and decide, said the government representative Yannis Oikonomou, starting the telefight with the press representative of SYRIZA-PS Popi Tsapanidou on state television.

Mr. Economou said that the aid given to the citizens supported them and came from the dividend of development and not from overtaxation. He added that the government’s policy is supporting the many with options that did not expose the country to the markets and the support was given to stand the country in front of the biggest crisis cocktail the country has ever known.

The SYRIZA government had protected the first residence and the citizens know this and the prime minister admitted it in the Parliament, said Popi Tsapanidou in her first televised confrontation with the government representative Yiannis Oikonomou on ERT.

He then argued: “The ND bankruptcy law changed the field so that banks and funds are not obliged to settle with the owners. We are calling on the government to suspend first home auctions until after the election to protect vulnerable households in dire need. Immediately after, SYRIZA will enact a law that will protect the first home and provide for negotiation and judicial protection of the borrower.”

Answering the question “why should a 17-year-old vote for ND”, Mr. Economou answered, among other things:

“Because we say he deserves to be entitled to live in a prosperous country to claim to live as he and his parents expect. This is what the ND is trying to do for the new generation at all levels, such as in Education, by allocating rooms in hostels and libraries to students. We say that it should be possible for the university to connect with foreign universities, we say that we should bring the state more together in technology and bring investments, we say that we should make sure that the new generation finds a home, we say that they should live in a protagonist homeland. That’s why we tell him to vote ND”.

When asked if the ND did everything it could to shed light on the surveillance case, Mr. Economou said that this case “tested the endurance of the institutions” and emphasized that “we did not hide, political responsibility was assumed, there were resignations, and things changed in the EYP, and we will not be quiet until there is no shadow left. This is the right way and not to seek impressions before the judicial investigation. He pointed out that when “institutions were instrumentalized” they ended up in cases, “like that of Mrs. Savvaidou who was accused and then our country was fined by the European court, the Novartis case that no one was ultimately referred to Justice. Democracy has rules. When everything comes out of the dark, then the world will see what exactly this case was.”

Mr. Economou referred to regional Greece and said that a unique investment project is developing in the region. He said that in Tripoli there is an investment by the largest pharmaceutical industry, and in Kilkis a large investment by a battery company. “Inequalities in the region will be reduced with this government. The previous government did not bring growth, but when Europe had 1.5% growth here we had 0.5%.”

Mr. Economou invited Ms. Tsapanidou to accompany her – as he said – to many parts of the country where investments are made from abroad “to see what development means in practice”. He said that “for a long time there has been an attempt by SYRIZA to do something wrong” and referring to the issues of corruption, he said that “the bottom line is that this government does not hide any problems. The issue is not only how you eliminate corruption but how you deal with it. We are reacting we immediately make interventions that did not exist in the past, such as in the cases of Mrs. Gerovasilis or Mr. Flambouraris”. He also stressed that the policy of supporting people to settle their “loans is unfolding before our eyes and the world will see it” while calling on the SYRIZA representative to answer whether SYRIZA “will tear down the Evros fence or not” saying that ” for us, in addition to the land, the sea also has borders”.