Alexis Tsipras attributed “criminal and huge” responsibilities to the management of the pandemic to the government in an interview with “Radio Paratiritis 94.0” in Komotini, which he is visiting tomorrow.
The president of SYRIZA-PS said that Greece is “in a really extremely difficult position”, as in the last three months it is again in a very difficult position and in the worst positions in all of Europe in the losses of people per million population. The vaccination rate is extremely low and the cases are at inconceivable heights “. He noted that since the pandemic has been around for two years, there is no question of surprise. He commented that “the centrally planned rhetoric of the government for months from May onwards was that we were done with the pandemic and it was the second time in a year that Mr. Mitsotakis told us that we were done and with absolute certainty that whoever was vaccinated got rid of it.” . He wondered “what message did this superficial strategy of the government give to the people, vaccinated and unvaccinated”, saying that it was “a message of relaxation, that we got rid of it, that we can live as we lived before” and added: “Who would not want that? But it was the wrong message at the wrong time. “
He also spoke about important responsibilities in “why our country has not been able to obtain serious vaccination coverage rates and lags behind more than 10-15 percentage points compared to other European countries” and said that this is due to the lack of trust. “The most important shield against the pandemic is trust. “It does not radiate trust, the government has no credibility and Mr. Mitsotakis could not convince the citizens,” he said. He accused the Prime Minister that “he did not strengthen and does not strengthen the NSS”, stating that “doctors in hospitals of Northern Greece are in an unpleasant position to once again choose which patients will be admitted to the ICU beds”. “This is the sole responsibility of the government, it had two years to strengthen the NSS, to build an ICU and to hire specialized staff, it did nothing,” he said, noting that “for every citizen who from now on will lose his life outside from ICU, which will be piped outside, the responsibility will have a name, it will not be a general and indefinite responsibility “.
The president of SYRIZA-PS stressed that the official opposition has shown responsibility and recognition of the very difficult reality and gave the maximum possible awareness that he could give to a government to face such a crisis, that he has repeatedly called for the convening of the council of political leaders “to find common ways, common Minister of Health, commonly accepted scientific team to make difficult decisions. “But Mr. Mitsotakis, at the time when we are counting cases and deaths, is only interested in counting votes,” he said.
He commented that he heard the prime minister yesterday “instead of bending over the human pain and confronting his responsibilities, he is trying to discover supposedly health and national saboteurs. Instead of seeking in a critical moment of agony and fear the unity of society and the elementary conciliation of political forces, he resorts to the last refuge of the guilty, division. “Instead of listening, he is overwhelmed by the dangerous feeling of being chased.” He added that “he proved with his arrogant and aloof attitude in the conditions of the pandemic that he does not have elementary sensitivity and he proved with his divisive delusion yesterday that he does not have even the elementary sense of responsibility”. “So far,” said Mr. Tsipras. “It is leading the country to a tragic impasse. It is time for the majority of democratic logic and social responsibility to show him the way out. “
The president of SYRIZA added that “we can not see people die helpless and we sit with folded arms”, that the prime minister “has responsibilities, he must take them, he must make difficult decisions, if he can not let it go let us take them “.
Asked about the issue of accuracy, Mr. Tsipras stressed that people see the bills swell, their income does not increase and the prime minister announces a 2% increase in the minimum wage for 2022 “that is a joke.” “Yes, the energy crisis is global, but again, here we are champions as a country,” he said, adding that in October the country closed with the highest price in the sale of electricity across Europe. He said that there are problems in relation to the management of the government, with the fact that “PPC has stopped operating for two years with the criterion of social benefit and is also playing in this competition to increase the price of electricity instead of holds down “.
“The announcement of the prime minister every two months supposedly to provide bonus aid to the electricity tariff shows the inadequacy and the lack of understanding and the sloppiness. “These 9 euros in the beginning, which he made 18 and now he makes 30, in front of increases of 150, 200, 250 euros in households depending on consumption, are crumbs, and the consumer will not even understand them.” . “We are talking about increases in December that will be in the range of 80 to 150%,” he added.
“In a period of economic crisis when the income is decreasing, the companies will be in a difficult position in the next period”, he said, noting that “the type 9, 20, 30, euro aids that Mr. Mitsotakis gives are aids that give aspirin to a heavy sick”. He stressed that the Prime Minister should explain why he does not proceed “to radical cuts, such as those we proposed, the radical reduction of the excise tax, the increase of the minimum wage, substantial subsidies, why he does not intervene in the source of price increases with RAE and the Commission “Competition to break this cartel and just subsidize the scandal.”
He said that “the most critical thing is to stop making fun of us, because he came out in an interview last week and told us that if he did not give these 19 euros, the bill would be ten times bigger. It is a shame to tell such blatant lies. “And he is incapable of dealing with the crisis that plagues households and operates with incredible carelessness and burdens us with lies.”
In view of tomorrow’s visit to Komotini, Mr. Tsipras pointed out that for SYRIZA it is very important to be next to the citizens, to understand the anxieties of society and to communicate with them directly, as “we are not a party of oligarchs, of services and entanglement, we do not have the opportunity to communicate through the media and incense our own proposals, as is done to a large extent today, with the use of public money by Mr. Mitsotakis … “.
He spoke about a substantial course for the people, information, discussion, for SYRIZA to listen to the anxieties and demands of the society and to integrate them in a structured program speech. “Our goal is to be ready when the time comes, it will not be long in my opinion, that the Greek people with the verdict will punish those who were promised after the exit from the memoranda – which we did – development, better jobs and have brings a tragedy “.
“The issue for us is to be ready to lead the country on paths of prosperity, progress, social and productive reconstruction,” said the president of SYRIZA-PS. He noted that both experience and technocratic analysis are needed, noting the staffing of a reservoir of thought around his office with personalities, “to prepare for the next day”, emphasizing that at the same time we need contact with society, the creation of movements to claim mature demands of society and knowledge of local problems.
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