The deputy of New Democracy, Giannis Oikonomouhe emphasized in an interview with that the Government is dealing with the problems of the citizens, improving its performance.

Regarding interventions in the field of health, he said:

“The thinking, the philosophy and the core of the intervention are in the right direction. There have been structural issues in the health system for decades, which, to be honest, go beyond even superficial opposition criticism, but also any efforts made by the Government.

Positions are advertised and doctors do not respond. Someone will say “triple, quadruple, quintuple the wages, build houses where there are none”. One is wishful thinking, another is realistic.

The Government is faced with two options: Either let things drag on until the conditions exist for doctors to have salaries such that you can compete with the private sector, both in Greece and abroad, to attract people or to think and out-of-the-box solutions. Such solutions are the evening surgeries, the possibility given to hospital doctors to work in the private sector and vice versa, to offer on-call services where there are glaring weaknesses and private doctors.

This is in the absolutely right direction and no one of good will can judge the Government negatively.”

To deal with the problems: “We had a result in the European elections, which was not what we were aiming for and quite naturally a cycle of discussions and interventions began, in which opinions were heard freely – as is done in an organized, large party that has a culture of dialogue – as we had to do.

This cycle is closed, we have the responsibility of governing the country and dealing with the basic problems of the citizens. Time will tell if we get it right and if the people come back. We are constantly trying to improve, to respond to the demands of the citizens, to the new conditions that are emerging. The Government does not sweep any problem under the carpet, it does not throw a “white towel” at any problem. Elsewhere we are doing better, elsewhere we need to step up our pace.”

For the cost of energy:

“Measures have already been announced, which will be legislated. And competition needs to work better so that prices can also be scaled down. I keep something in my memory: It was in the spring of 2022, that the electricity bill file was terrorizing the citizens. I remember very well that period and that we were working on solutions – more or less radical – and we came up with a program, which was then adopted by the European Commission as a whole and which brought results.

The Government obviously does not live in a “glass tower”, it realizes that the issue of energy is central to households, with secondary consequences for products, and it is sure to deal with this situation with the same culture as it dealt with it in the past.

The issue of competition in the energy market is even more complex. Energy is not only a Greek phenomenon, but a pan-European one. The Government’s decision to strengthen the Competition Commission is known, just as the issue of understaffing certain critical arms of the State and the public sector is also known. For this, substantial movements and interventions are made, but other tools are also used, which often come to reduce the human resource deficit”.