In recent years, the government does not seem to be moving with a plan to deal with natural disasters, argued the Euclid Tsakalotos speaking on Kontra’s main news bulletin. The candidate for the presidency of SYRIZA PS pledged that if he is elected leader of the main opposition, he will bring to the Parliament two draft laws: One will provide for the commitment of the respective government to submit and discuss in the Parliament every year in the spring the national operational plan for the summer. The second will be the restoration of decentralized management bodies. In other words, there should be a central plan, but also decentralized management by people who know the local peculiarities and needs.

Mr. Tsakalotos referred to the necessity of discussing climate change, stressing that reducing inequalities is also part of the discussion. He noted that here the difference between the left and the right is the belief that there should be an active role of the state that will set goals and priorities. In order to strengthen entrepreneurship, he emphasized that there should be facilitation of financing, but also support in the development of business plans, in finding new markets and exploiting new trends. He pointed out that the Development Bank can be a tool for this.

Regarding the opening at the center, Mr. Tsakalotos emphasized that it is addressed to people both within SYRIZA and outside, however he said that “it is one thing to whom you are addressing, which can be a wide range, and another is who you are addressing”. “You have to have a clear identity, which can evolve, but it has to be clear. To be able to converse with the world with a clear stigma,” he said.

Regarding Article 16, he noted that it is an ideological battle that must be fought. “The question is why we want to have public universities. Do universities belong in a space that will be protected from the operation of the market? For example, it is wrong for universities to compete with each other for funding. Because this stops cooperation between universities”, he said, while commenting that “education, health, culture are not the same as buying tomatoes and we should take this into account”.

For the debate – a term he does not accept as he does not agree with the way it is conducted, and he sees a discussion that will allow for an in-depth dialogue – he said that it should take the form of a discussion that will not be competitive aimed at rants but will give the opportunity to see different opinions between partners. “Because we are all in the same party and have a common path and not leaders of rival parties,” he said. He added that for the electoral process the law is to observe the same rules as the elections of Alexis Tsipras. He said that these are issues that will be discussed with the other candidates.

Among other things, Mr. Tsakalotos said that the recovery of SYRIZA will come but not with impressive moves and that “he wants an ant job for SYRIZA’s positions, its identity and how the party works”. He claimed that “there will be a recovery in the European elections but then there will be other work to be done for another 2-3 years”. He emphasized that things can change if one has a program and a plan “and I can build teams, with a majority of young people, with a roadmap for how we will get to where we want to be in 2026.” He noted that the most important thing is to shape the positions of SYRIZA and the plan that will allow the party to convince the people and thus enter a path of recovery.