A great victory of the New Democracy will prevent the plans for a government of losers, the Secretary of the Political Committee of the New Democracy Pavlos Marinakis said today on the program “Kalimera” on SKAI, where he spoke about the attitude of the opposition regarding the fence on the Evros and the upcoming elections of May 21.

Regarding the issue of the fence on the Evros, Pavlos Marinakis said: “The borders of Greece, where the fence is, are also the borders of Europe. And we have the following unprecedented and unheard of: a Greek MEP, Mr. Papadimoulis, proposed the blocking of European funding for the fence. That is, essentially, something that protects Europe, should not be paid for by Europe, but by the Greek taxpayers.

Because we always like – and this is how our President has taught us – to talk with figures, I will tell you that until 2019 the asylum seekers in the country were over 90,000, to be precise 91,000. Today it is 16,000. Not only because of the fence, but because of an overall national policy, because of the self-denial of the people of the security forces and the armed forces, because of an overall policy of the Government and the Prime Minister. The detention centers for these people were 121, all over the country. Today there are 33. So, all this constitutes a comprehensive policy.”

To a question by Giorgos Autias regarding PASOK’s position in relation to the issue, the Secretary of the ND Party replied: “In this matter, Mr. Androulakis has, indeed, the right position. However, he cannot at the same time say that he can govern either with SYRIZA or with New Democracy. He cannot be a potential government partner at the same time with those who are going to block the financing of the fence and alongside us who protect the borders of the country and respect these people, why should I remind you that it is not only the issue of the fence. Centers of shame were created during SYRIZA and we have lived through them and we all remember them”.

Then, answering a journalist’s question about the importance of the first ballot box, Pavlos Marinakis replied: “The Greek citizens on May 21 will decide who will be the Prime Minister of the country for the next four years. I believe that this decision will be overwhelmingly in favor of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. I say this to my fellow citizens who may have been disappointed with some issues, because our country is in a much better situation in most respects than in 2019. The first ballot is important because in order for there to be a second ballot, Kyriakos must Mitsotakis and the New Democracy to be strongly first.

Because as SYRIZA MP George Tsipras said, SYRIZA will consider the possibility of forming a government of the defeated. Despite the looming victory of New Democracy in the elections, they want to invest in a possible “soft vote” in the first polls and build a government of losers. This will be prevented with a big victory for New Democracy and I think we will succeed. To achieve all this, they very deliberately changed the electoral law before leaving power. While they governed twice with the bonus of 50 seats – then they had not yet “loved” simple proportionality – seeing that they would lose the next election, they legislated simple proportionality.

“They want to enter the government “through the window”, despite the popular verdict. It has been said by a number of SYRIZA executives in recent months that if they can they will form a government of losers. I am not saying all this as Secretary of New Democracy. It is not a partisan appeal. We hear about a crisis in the banking system, which seems that because of the strong economy we now have, ours is not at risk. But some people seem to want to bring back Mr. Varoufakis who closed the banks and even laughed at the citizens”, he added.

Afterwards, the Secretary of the ND Party reported about the visit of the Secretary of SYRIZA to France: “I saw the Secretary of SYRIZA, Ms. Svigou, going to France for the protests that are taking place for the pensions. They are so hypocritical that with Article 7 of the Katrougalou Law, they increased the retirement age to 67, so what did Mrs. Svigou do in France? To share expertise on how SYRIZA cut EKAS, disability pensions and widow’s pensions?”

Concluding his presentation, Pavlos Marinakis stated “Addressing also our fellow citizens who may not have voted for us in 2019, the citizens now have before them a presumption of credibility. We constantly hear from SYRIZA the excuse that it managed Memoranda, which third and unnecessary Memorandum he brought, while normally we would finish in 2015.

In the midst of years of consecutive and imported crises, Kyriakos Mitsotakis did what he promised. Created 300,000 new jobs, cut over 50 taxes. The justification of the Memoranda is the justification of the incompetent politics of SYRIZA. No imported crisis was called upon to be managed by SYRIZA. It only created crises.”