By Penelope Galliou

Five months after the victory of the ND in the national elections of June, the festive atmosphere returned yesterday to Piraeus Street, on the occasion of the meeting of the Political Committee of the party, which sealed the change of baton for the position of Secretary of the party, from Pavlos Marinakis to Maria Syregela.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for the first time after assuming his second government term, was received with applause and smiles in the “blue headquarters” and set the tone again for the “pace” of the party and the government for the next period, at least until next big political milestone which is the upcoming EU elections in June.

However, until the faction is led and wins this political bet as well, as he described the clean victory that the faction seeks in the next European ballot, Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave clear instructions for the map that executives, MPs and ministers should follow. Instructions, in terms of warning and to avoid arrogant behavior. Because as the prime minister clearly explained, the 41% obtained by the ND in the national elections in June “is not equivalent to a blank check. It is equivalent to increased responsibility. It is not an alibi for mistakes. It is an incentive for a result which, moreover, does not allow extravagant behavior as the political “counter” was zeroed out in the elections” Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized emphatically and recommended to his executives that “our words must be like our actions: clear, substantial, but above all measured. which starts from starting points which were achieved without being either easy or given”.

However, the prime minister’s message to society was also clear, repeating his commitment to bold reforms, without counting the cost which he declared determined to undertake, whatever it may be, because as he emphasized, the government’s strategic pursuit is the continuous improvement of everyday life of the citizen.

Speaking of which tax bill which has been put up for public consultation but has already caused discomfort among some professionals, Kyriakos Mitsotakis appeared adamant. “It’s not the first time I’m talking to you about reforms that may upset some, but will benefit many. And if there are costs from these conflicts, this government will not hesitate to take them on. Because let’s not forget that one of the big “one of the pitfalls of the second four-year term is compromise. Compromise with pathologies, with entrenched interests. An injustice of the few at the expense of the social whole, which must someday disappear,” he clarified.

Messages that, as commented by blue executives, will be repeated at regular intervals by the prime minister to the interior of his faction and government, in order to keep all executives on their guard and not to become complacent, carried away by the political climate, which can give a clear and comfortable poll lead in the ND, but nothing is certain and no situation is maintained indefinitely, only with the mistakes of the political opponents, as they noted. “Hard work and work” for society and the citizen, will be repeated almost monotonously but always emphatically by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to the same source.

In this light, the prime minister’s speech also had pointed references to the political opponents, both SYRIZA and PASOK, with the final recipient, however, again the internal ND. “You see the impasses of the other political side. On the SYRIZA side, they argue whether their leader is Trump or Beppe Grillo.

And they are arguing about the infamous “pillow”, they are now playing a “pillow fight” with each other. They are hiding, however. All of them hide that this “pillow” was essentially invented to lull public opinion to sleep, with money from unjust taxes, without any Greek control. What was the “pillow”? It was nothing more than the lenders’ pledge for the enormous personal unreliability of Mr. Tsipras,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis. But he continued with shots against Harilaou Trikoupi, stating that “As for PASOK, I observe with interest its gradual adherence to a nihilistic discourse. Expecting it to take the position of the second party, they show PASOK that they are waiting for the retreat of SYRIZA as “ripe fruit”, so that they can welcome its voters. However, they ignore that the negative policy they are imitating is no longer ripe, it is a rotten fruit, they are outdated slogans that Greek society has heard and rejected”.

As a conclusion to his shots at his political opponents, Kyriakos Mitsotakis once again turned his gaze to his executives and essentially asked them to deal with their own affairs. “I also ask you for your own reasons not to be too concerned with what is happening on the other side of the political spectrum. Because our problems are real. Our own failures can also be real. We know, as Kazantzakis wrote, “the right the road is always uphill” and realizing that in the mirror of political dominance the weaknesses of the one who dominates emerge more strongly. Thus, our tasks take on new dimensions and take on other dimensions. It is a conclusion that is worth keeping, not only in our daily action, but because in front of us we have the showdown of the European elections”, said the prime minister closing the recommendations to the blue camp.