“It was an unacceptable statement. There was immediate communication with him, he also perceived it and immediately repaired, regardless of whether he did a medical analysis. This statement, however, does not stand. The complete opposite is happening and will continue to happen. Human life does not enter the ‘scale’ and everyone must protect it and fight until the last moment. It is not weighed, it does not enter into any discussion and, in fact, this is the policy that New Democracy followed as a Government, the policy that every Government should follow and will continue even after the elections, strengthening the NHS, patients having better access in new treatments, in 1,000 new treatments in the last three years, we have an increase in health funding from 3.8 to 5.2 billion, we have an increase in health personnel, a more than doubling of ICUs, because everything must come down to the person and the protection of human life”, said the head of the ND Political Committee Pavlos Marinakis on SKAI 100.3 commenting on yesterday’s statements of the Evia candidate, Spyros Pneumatikos.

The ND secretary added: “Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself has said that the Health Sector will be his absolute personal priority. So what the doctors, nurses in public hospitals, in private hospitals, in all health structures do every day with self-sacrifice, but also what the ND did as Government, is completely opposite to what he said, in an abomination -indeed-, Mr. Spiritual, in a medical analysis. He did not express views of the New Democracy and it is unacceptable and condemnable. There was, as I said, immediate intervention, he himself made amends and apologized.”

Afterwards, Mr. Marinakis added: “I think after the reaction he had, that he neither justified himself, nor said that he expressed a ND position, it is clear, after all, from the citation of the policies of the ND Government, after this clear position that we have, I think we should move on and of course due to all those who have a public speech to be careful.

Careful because we all have in our environment, in our home, among our friends people who carry a very difficult cross.

We in the New Democracy throughout time and by exercising power in public life, protect human life with actions through policies.”

Mr. Marinakis commented in particular on the attitude of the opposition and the statements of A. Tsipras: “It is sad to see again the opposition’s attempt to instrumentalize such a sensitive issue and in fact through the mouth of the leader of SYRIZA, of course we did not expect anything different . He attempted to instrumentalize something that is against our faction and was immediately condemned. Human life is the most important commodity and we must protect it in any way. It is not possible for the leader of SYRIZA to say that there is a hidden health agenda, ie what is it?

What does Mr. Tsipras want to say, that there is a hidden agenda to leave patients to their fate? Where does this come from? We cannot make politics on people’s anxieties. Let us remind the people who listen to us, that during the difficult years of the pandemic, we had an opposition which, at a time when all countries and all parties were fighting for survival, questioned the existence of vaccines, when it was the turn of the new generation to be vaccinated “Mr. Tsipras was talking about ‘smackdown’ and SYRIZA was taking to the streets in favor of an unrepentant murderer.”