By Penelope Galliou

Battle positions in the new field that is being formed in the political scene of the place, now openly receive government and PASOKreturning to the polarization of bipartisanship a decade ago, at all levels, Parliament and society.

The climate that has been developing lately between the leaders of the two parties is also sealed by their chief leaders, who are now clearly standing against each other, clashing over policies and programs and drawing up their strategy, the intensity of which, apart from earlier times , also reminiscent of a pre-election climate. Although repeated, the prime minister makes it clear that the elections will be held on time, at the end of the four-year term, in 2027.

Until then, the two camps, SW and PASOK, have all year to prepare the battle lines both among themselves and against the new scenario that is prescribed for the other opposition parties, with those already existing in the Parliament but also any new ones, as reflected by all measurements.

The bipartisan rivalries that are already taking place show the priorities set by both parties, with the economy and the citizen’s “pocket” being at the top, given that both know that, in the end, everything is judged there, in terms of voters’ preferences and political choices. For the government, the starting point for the economic policy of the next two years is the 2025 Budget, which is expected to be voted on in mid-December.

THE prime minister it also gave it the character of a road map that would keep the country on a steady path of progress and “translate” the prosperous indicators of development into a social footprint, focusing, in addition to further tax reductions, on increases in salaries and pensions but also the strengthening of the middle class.

In this context, Megaro Maximos is trying to draw a red line between populism – as government officials say – and the responsible and costed proposals, which have a real reaction and counterweight in society, which is reflected in government policy. “We prefer to talk about taxes that are reduced in practice, that is, they are legislated and reduced, than about taxes that are “reduced” in words, such as the taxes that Mr. Androulakis” they comment.

And speaking, with numbers and specific results, the government representative, speaking on SKAI television, emphasized that the government during its first and current term, “has reduced taxes, more than any other post-government government. Fifty in the first four-year period, nine in the first year of the second four-year period and another twelve that will be reduced from 1/1/2025”, while recalling all the actions that were established and are being implemented to combat precision and limit its effects.

In PASOK’s proposal to reduce the VAT on basic goods, in addition to the fact that the Maximos Palace and the financial staff consider that the cost to the public finances is unbearable “A horizontal reduction of the VAT today by one unit costs 1.5 billion” observed Kyriakos Mitsotakis was asked in this regard, at the same time it is judged that the result of such an initiative could have dubious results.

On the contrary, the government opposes the whole of the tax policy that it carried out during its administration, from the reductions in ENFIA, to a series of indirect taxes and a series of VATs, which were narrowed down, to the weight given to the increase of incomes, by strengthening wages and pensions but also interventions in housing. The same prime minister defended the policy of targeted support to pensioners or other social groups from the “fruits” of the crackdown on tax evasion and from the new “reformed” benefits that concern young families looking for housing or young parents with small children, noting that “we have done much for lower incomes, we will also do for the middle class” effectively heralding new interventions as well.