By Penelope Galliou

The political confrontation on the non-state, non-profit Universities bill is reaching its climax today, which is expected to be passed today by roll call, following the relevant request submitted by SYRIZA.

In the morning (11.00) it is expected to be placed on the bill, and from the floor of the Parliament, Kyriakos Mitsotakisas the controversial bill was one of the reformist “bets” of the same prime minister.

After all, he himself had included it in the pre-election agenda of the national elections in June and it is now proven – as government sources commented – that he is immediately fulfilling another of his commitments.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has spoken about one “flagship reform” and has underlined that the non-state universities are essentially coming to restore a “historical educational injustice” as Greece remains “one of the few countries on the planet where we continue to erect such walls in education”.

There are two main pillars, which the government focuses on in its argument for non-state, non-profit Universities. On the one hand, for our country to cease to be an anachronistic exception not only in the EU but also worldwide, and on the other hand to limit the flight of Greek students abroad, to attract highly prestigious professors from abroad and of course to create the strict conditions – such as emphasize – conditions for attracting more investment.

However, the Prime Minister is expected to place particular emphasis on Public Universities, whose strengthening – as he will emphasize – remains a government priority.

According to the government, this is also proven by the fact that 70% of the provisions of the bill concern public higher education, with the aim of giving the Public University a greater push that will contribute to its internationalization, with practical support from the state.

The stance of the opposition parties, especially SYRIZA and PASOK, is expected to be in the prime minister’s sights.

Regarding SYRIZA it is possible to mention the fact that its president, Stefanos Kasselakis, studied at a private University, – like other executives of Koumoundourou – but he openly opposes their operation in our country, underlining in this way Koumoundourou’s hypocritical approach to the operation of non-state universities, as government sources commented.

However, the main “opponent” in this political confrontation has emerged is PASOK and Harilaou Trikoupi’s resolute stance to essentially renounce her long-standing and proclaimed position in favor of non-state non-profit universities and to stand against the reform of the government.

The prime minister will attempt to highlight “political hypocrisy and bilingualism” – as commented by PASOK government officials. In fact, as government sources estimate, the party of Nikos Androulakis, for petty political expediencies, renounces its declared position and attempts to “fish” votes from its left and the critics of the reform, by voting against the bill, as another “green SYRIZA”.

In the government camp, they believe that the reform in higher education is in absolute coordination with the majority of Greek society, and this is the reason why there is confusion and internal turmoil in the opposition and especially in PASOK.

A fact that was also recorded in the recent Pulse poll for SKAI, with 55% of the party’s voters stating that the bill is moving in the right direction, considering that it needs some improvements and ultimately confirming the government’s assessments.