of DORA ANTONIOU

The prime minister’s staff is feverishly preparing for the budget battle, which begins on Wednesday in the Plenary and will end with the vote on Sunday evening.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis will have Nikos Androulakis as his main opponent in the Parliament, as PASOK participates in the debate on the budget from the position of the official opposition for the first time in 16 years.

The revival of “historical” bipartisanship has its own semiotics.

Even before PASOK formally became the official opposition, Mr. Mitsotakis had made it clear that he was choosing Mr. Androulakis as an opponent in the Parliament.

Now, and formally, the president of PASOK has this role. It is important for the government to have an organized opposition as a counter awe, as this strengthens the rallying of the forces of the N.D.. And the fragmented SYRIZA is clearly unable to serve this role.

All the previous days the staff of Mr. Mitsotakis is preparing for the debate in Parliament, which is, after all, one of the top parliamentary proceedings every year.

The main message that the government will seek to send is that of stability and consistency of words and works. The element of stability, political and fiscal, is contrasted with the turbulence and fluidity in the international environment, even in much stronger countries and economies.

Both the government ministers, each in their field, and the prime minister will focus on matching programmatic statements with policies that have been put into practice, in other words, the message “we said it and we did it”, which the prime minister also broadcast from Thessaloniki at the inauguration of the metro .

Special emphasis will be given to the government’s performance in combating tax evasion and the consequent increase in revenues, as well as their fair distribution with an emphasis on the middle class as well as supporting the unemployed and the vulnerable.

The Prime Minister in his weekly review yesterday, referred to the strengthening of the Greek economy to add that “This course is accompanied by our commitment to support society, giving priority to the most vulnerable, such as the unemployed. During the discussion of the budget for 2025 that starts on Wednesday, we will have a lot to say.”

A separate chapter in the budget debate is expected to be the issue of interventions for banks, which has evolved into the central field of confrontation between the government and PASOK.

“Speaking of banking fees, I want to focus on the need for a more competitive operation of banks for the benefit of borrowers and depositors. Now that their recovery has been completed with significant government and taxpayer assistance, the banks in turn must more responsibly return to society the dividend of growth that is their share. To provide more and cheaper business and home loans and reduce fees that challenge common sense. Their reaction to date, as I said on Thursday in Parliament, does not satisfy us. Therefore, yes, we will soon announce interventions in the banking sector, with the aim of their orderly and competitive operationsaid the prime minister yesterday.