In the unfair tax bill that the government is bringing to Parliament for a vote today, in the previous bill “that serves the interests of servicers”, but also in tomorrow’s visit by Erdogansaid the press representative of SYRIZA-PS, Dora Avgeri, in an interview with the radio station “Real FM 97.8”.

Regarding the objection of unconstitutionality filed by the official opposition for article 15 of the tax bill, Dora Avgeri noted: “The issue of unconstitutionality is something that we must address both legally and politically.” “It is not an issue raised only by SYRIZA-PS, as a political and constitutional objection. It has been preceded by the objection of the self-employed themselves, their associations, the chambers, the Bar Association. But much more, the Scientific Council of the Parliament itself, which essentially tells the government that the disputed provision of the bill, article 15, is unconstitutional. And this is because the basic constitutional principle of equality is catalyzed. You cannot tax a freelancer with a higher tax and an employee with a lower tax, based on arbitrary comparisons. Precisely because the conditions under which the self-employed work and are paid are not the same as those employed”, underlined Dora Avgeri.

“The multi-page report of the Scientific Council of the Parliament states that the disputed provision, which the government is bringing to a vote, is not in line with the decisions of the Council of State, as the Council of State has decided that the employed and the self-employed are under essentially different employment conditions and income generation. Consequently, the lower salary or the fees of the highest paid employee of a company cannot be taken as a basis for calculating the imputed income of the unemployed”, noted the press representative of SYRIZA-PS.

“The government must be very serious to the reflection expressed by the Scientific Council of the Parliament, the legal, constitutional reflection and above all the real reflection of the people affected by the regulation. An employee with an employer, who will pay him every month the salary, is not the same as a self-employed person, who has profits but also losses. This arbitrary approach of the government creates very big problems in people’s lives”, emphasized Dora Avgeri.

“There is no one who says that tax evasion should not be fought. But we have to see how this can be done. With unfair taxation, with the imposition of a horizontal tax, this cannot be done. You don’t effectively fight tax evasion this way, and – much more – you don’t establish a sense of justice among taxpayers. The feeling of justice is very important for citizens to be consistent in their tax obligations”, he pointed out.

In response to a question about possible collaborations of SYRIZA-PS with other opposition forces, on the basis that the official opposition “is no longer strong”, Dora Avgeri said: “The parliamentary power of SYRIZA may be reduced, but that does not mean that the anguish of the people represented by the official opposition does not exist with the same intensity.”

“The main thing is for the official opposition to coordinate with the needs of society. Those of the other political forces that align with these needs automatically align with our own political priorities. We don’t coordinate with the bankers, we don’t… service the servicers and the funds. We are voting against, we are bringing a plan, we are submitting a request for a roll call vote,” he said characteristically.

Asked to comment on the “presence” of the MPs of the New Left in the provisions of the bill on the “red” loans, she underlined: “I will tell you what the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance voted on in principle against and against on the articles, in this particular bill ». “He voted against a law that gives service to servicers, instead of taking care of the protection of the first home and for the borrowers in Swiss francs which are several tens of thousands in our country. The government cut short a European directive, which took care of these categories, namely the protection of the first home and Swiss franc borrowers. And these were not brought by the ND with the specific legislation”, said Dora Avgeri. “On the contrary”, he continued, “he introduced provisions that introduce the non-seizure of accounts for servicers, licensing without new supporting documents and without control by the Bank of Greece. SYRIZA-PS voted against this,” he explained.

When asked about Erdogan’s visit to Athens tomorrow and how the official opposition is dealing with the event, he noted: “The position of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, both as the official opposition and when it was in the government, is stable. We support dialogue with Turkey on the basis of international law, with the aim of reducing tension, building trust and cooperation in several areas. However, this dialogue should serve the interests of our country and, of course, peace in the region. And this dialogue must be promoted on the basis of a specific strategy with a beginning, middle and end. Based on the examples of the government so far, such a thing does not exist.”

“For our part, as SYRIZA-PS, we believe that the dialogue with Turkey must be based on clear red lines: non-demilitarization of the islands, defense of the country’s sovereignty, exclusion of any discussion on joint exploitation, non-denial of the right to expand the territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles”, he stressed.

“This dialogue must have a clear perspective on the delimitation of the continental shelf and EEZ at the international court in The Hague. It is also necessary to clearly define the terms and conditions under which the exploratory talks will proceed, while it is also necessary to take advantage of alliances so that Turkey can be pressured and committed sincerely and long-term to the Greek-Turkish and Euro-Turkish dialogue. That is, not to “enter and leave” this dialogue by “regulating” its own tension and not to have the result of Mr. Erdogan gaining impressions”, concluded Dora Avgeri.