“There is no question of the rule of law in our country” the former caretaker prime minister, former deputy prime minister and supreme judge categorically stated. Panagiotis Pikrammenosspeaking on the 9th Delphi Economic Forumclarifying, at the same time, that yes there are things that can be done better, but there is no generalized issue, “we cannot say that Greece is not a state of law”,

“There are some problems which will soon be resolved in solutions, but the general issue of the rule of law, I unequivocally say that no it does not exist” said Mr. Pikramenos, when asked to answer if the citizens’ mistrust is justified, as reflected in the poll indicators, even for Justice.

Commenting on the “urge”, as described by the relevant statement of the president of the TEE, not to implement the decision of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Pikramenos said that this is “something that should not be said, it is not right”. “We can’t selectively say don’t apply this because that’s how things got lost. No one can say – no matter what – that the law shouldn’t be applied because if we start saying don’t apply the law then I’m sorry we got burned,” he said characteristically.

Answering the question about what could be done “on the question of the counterweights of the institutions”, he pointed out that the counterweights are the courts and the Independent authorities, which should be strengthened. In this direction, he explained that it is necessary to enshrine constitutionally, and in the framework of the revision of the Constitution, the Energy Regulatory Authority and the Competition Authority, especially as this prevents the possibility of their abolition and strengthens their independence.

Mr. Pikrammenos also proposed the establishment of an Authority, which will monitor the budget deficits and have a veto on the governments’ political decisions regarding them as, as he characteristically said: “Because I see the lefto tree blooming and a rhetoric beginning again benefits and increases” “Because I have lived the memoranda on my back both as president of the Council of Ministers and as caretaker prime minister in a period when we were in danger of going bankrupt, our country should not be led back to situations it was led to in the past due to misguided political decisions. These policies must be put to a stop,” he stressed.

On the occasion of the recent decisions of the CoE on the bonus amount, off-plan construction, information on monitoring, Mr. Pikrammenos was asked if the judges and the CoE are ultimately practicing politics. He replied that administrative court judges of course practice some kind of politics, but not in the sense in which they are usually accused. They don’t do that kind of politics. “In interpreting the Constitution, which is a living text and susceptible of various interpretations from time to time and from situation to situation, they end up making some sort of policy. The usual charge is that the courts make fiscal policy (with allowances for example) and my response to ministers is “when we cut the allowances with the memoranda, didn’t we make fiscal policy again?” But then you didn’t accuse us”. Of course the court also interprets the Constitution and based on the interpretations of the Constitution makes decisions that have a political impact. This is natural,” said Mr. Pikrammenos.

Regarding whether it is right for the Justice to address the general public, Mr. Pikrammenos commented: “The classic thing is that the Justice gives the answer with the decision that the court takes, however because there is increased interest, but there is also the delay , it is good to inform the public about where a decision is going and to give an image and provide an update so that there are no misunderstandings and no fictions are built, which have nothing to do with reality. I think it is good the Justice and briefly informs”.

Referring to the opinion that another way of choosing the leadership of the Judiciary would strengthen the image of the independent judiciary, the former deputy prime minister emphasized that “It is true that it also applies to the Republic. It is not a good state, but it is the best that exists. There are improvements and safeguards and things potentially that can lead to improvements.”

Finally, when asked to comment on Alexis Tsipras’s statements about “unfortunate handling of the Novartis case”, Mr. Pikramenos stated that the former prime minister did not give an answer to the essence, “he simply expressed an annoyance, which existed and seems to still exist and does not it’s just about the Novartis story, but also the TV license case.” “So I am waiting and will wait for an answer on the merits. The Novartis case, was it just a story of mishandling? Take a clear stand and tell us: Was this story mishandled or fundamentally unacceptable?”, he concluded.