By Dora Antoniou

The formation of a national demographic strategy and the establishment of a Single Consumer Authority are the two issues on which, according to information, common ground was found between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the president of PASOK, Nikos Androulakis in the meeting between them.

The prime minister gave the president of PASOK two detailed files with government interventions on housing and demographics. Especially for the demographic, Mr. Mitsotakis, responding to the proposal of Mr. Androulaki for the establishment of a National Authority to deal with this national issue, he said that the competent minister, Sofia Zaharaki, could undertake to organize the procedures for forming a body for drawing up a national strategy. There is a common ground in principle that policies to deal with demographics exceed the time limit of a government term and that agreement and continuity are needed in their implementation.

During the meeting, which is described by both sides as having taken place in a particularly positive atmosphere in terms of the disposition of both for substantial consultation and not in terms of political sensationalism, there was a first early discussion on the constitutional review, where Mr. Androulakis was asked the issue of changing the way of selecting the leadership of the Justice, which, as reported, was not rejected by the prime minister in the beginning. Consensus is also being formed on the issue of postal voting for the national elections. Mr. Androulakis submitted a proposal for an open call for interest in the process of staffing the Independent Authorities.

An extensive discussion took place on national issues, with a focus on Greek-Turkish issues and the accession process of the Western Balkan countries, as well as developments in the Middle East.

Of course, different approaches remain on a number of issues, such as VAT on essential goods, the golden visa and the imposition of an extraordinary levy on bank profits.