By Penelope Galliou

A first “taste” of what will follow in the Parliament during the new four-year government of the ND, with the new composition of the eight-party Parliament, the citizens are expected to get today, during the start and continuation of the three-day debate on the programmatic statements of the ND government.

The government and MPs of all parties will cross the threshold of the Plenary of the Parliament in the afternoon, in order to watch and participate in the three-day process which will open at 5 pm with the speech of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and conclude on Saturday night with the last speaker again being the prime minister and the roll-call vote for the government’s vote of confidence.

Everyone’s eyes are undoubtedly on the expected and largely announced announcements of the government, through the mouth of the prime minister, which are contained in the quadripartite better wages – better health – better state and further strengthening of the country’s geostrategic footprint. A part of the announcements will concern measures of immediate application, in order to relieve citizens and households, given the extension of the market pass until the end of the year, extraordinary financial assistance to pensioners with a personal difference and the abolition of the “penalty” of 30% for working pensioners.

In addition to these measures, government sources hint that Kyriakos Mitsotakis will announce some further measures which are kept as a “top secret” and characterized as a “surprise”.

In any case, the economy and growth will be central to the government’s agenda, which is in line with Mitsotakis’ statements to Bloomberg about the early repayment of loans of the first memorandum, two years ahead of the original schedule.

The new “conditions” in the opposition – Without Tsipras, but with Androulakis, the battle of the leaders

The interest in the three-day debate, however, is intensified by the new conditions that took shape in the Parliament after the elections of June 25, the resignation of Alexis Tsipras and an extremely weakened official opposition in terms of percentages and numbers.

It is also the first time that the political leaders of the now eight parties of the Parliament will face each other post-election and within the Parliament, while for the first time also after years the summit “bra de fer” will not be held between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Alexis Tsipras, who will participate in the three-day debate on the program statements, as an ordinary member of parliament. Among the firsts of the new Parliament is the maiden presence and participation in a parliamentary process of Nikos Androulakis, who was elected to the Parliament for the first time and will speak as a party leader in the Parliament.

The main opponent of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who will confront him, as leader of the official opposition, will be the newly elected president of the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group, Sokratis Famellos, who will undertake to bear the weight of Koumoundourou’s positions and opposition tactics, attempting to fill the void left by the departure of Tsipras and until the procedures for appointing the new president of the party are completed.

Under these circumstances, the positions of the SYRIZA MPs who are treated as “dolphins” for the leadership of the party in the succession race will also be of interest.

Equally interesting is the position of the leaders of the newly entrant parties of the minor opposition, who, apart from the president of Plefsis Eleftherias Zoe Konstantopoulou, both the president of the Spartans and the president of Niki, have no parliamentary experience and certainly the eyes they also focus on the position they will take during the process but also the opinions they will unfold during their positions and their MPs will also participate in the debate.​