By Yannis Anifantis

An intensely electrified atmosphere prevailed in the Parliament between the Minister of Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and Member of Parliament for Eastern AtticaGiorgos Vlachos, on the occasion of the former’s topical question about bad loans.

“Since the submission of the relevant question I have refused to respond to invitations to speak to various media and this is because I wanted to hear your views in Parliament before making any other comments. On the contrary, with you who answered the common question with some other colleagues with a press release to the government editors and the next day we became aware. What can I say, these are signs of the times. In any case, I would suggest you not to do it again because it does not honor either you or the parliamentary process“, the blue member of parliament said, starting his prologue, bringing back to the table the question that had been submitted by 11 ND MPs to the Minister of Finance. “In this question we did not ask you what we have voted for, we know that very well and if your reference to our vote is a prompt to be more careful in the future about what we personally vote for I accept it and will be more careful in the future“, added Mr. Vlachos in a scathing style, adding that as a State we gave the banks and the funds both the melon and the knife. “I understand that we can’t take the melon back anymore. But we can give the knife to a hand that will make a fair distribution that will make a distribution of responsibilities where they belong… We ask for freedom from injustice and exaggeration“, he underlined.

“Obviously no one in this room and in any ward is more sensitive than the rest“, commented the Minister of Finance taking the floor, pointing out that “if one acts thoughtlessly and adopts populist practices in the end the banks don’t pay it as the populists claim, the depositors pay it because the money in the banks belongs to the depositors». In fact, he underlined that half of the measures proposed have already been implemented or are being implemented. Referring to the extrajudicial mechanism, he clarified that in the last one year, it has seen a very large acceleration as in September 2024, 75% more cases were approved by the mechanism compared to the corresponding September of last year. “Not only did the red ones decrease, from where in 2019 there were also 100 red loans for 100 green loans, now only 50 red loans correspond to 100 green loans. We have a very important improvement that didn’t happen, it did“, he added.

However, the Minister’s answer did not seem to convince the MP who came back:

“I don’t understand, all these people who have besieged us all this time with all these papers they send don’t they just understand their own good? This is our question. You present a world perfectly made.” In fact, Mr. Vlachos also gave answers about how the “group of 11” he clarified that “neither I nor any colleague will bring down the government. We simply conveyed the voice we hear of our fellow citizens protesting. You want us to listen to it, we’re all in the same boat together.”

Mr. Hatzidakis came back in a high tone asking Mr. Vlachos not to ask him to implement things that are incorrect and the bill would come to the Minister. He emphasized that he is looking for proposals with seriousness, justice and social sensitivity and that he never said that the problem does not exist but that it has been reduced. Addressing Mr. Vlachos, the Minister stated:

“I don’t owe anyone anything. Not in a bank, not in a fund. I’m not going to be a populist. I am not going to temporarily become pleasant in the first or second show, to leave some basic principles which are the principle of responsibility and seriousness. I’m sure we both have the same concern. I am always at your disposal within the framework of the principles and directions of the New Democracy».