Referring to the offer of former Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, Mr. Tsoukalas told ertnews that “Kostas Simitis, in continuation of the policy and works of Andreas Papandreou, managed to stop Greece being a breadbasket and to become a European country and to upgrade the standard of living of the Greeks”.

“Today, on the other hand, our country is at the bottom of all social indicators,” he added.

“PASOK – Movement for Change today speaks exactly of a Greece of national self-confidence, great potential and extroversion. He talks about a Greece that, along with economic development, will also have social upliftment, we will have convergence with the rest of Europe.

When K. Simitis was talking about convergence with the rest of Europe, he was talking about the Union of 12 or 15, now we are at the bottom in terms of social indicators among the 27. This means that we have been passed by countries that entered after us. This is something for which the government bears a lot of responsibility as it has been at the helm of the country for six years. While let’s not forget that the country’s course was largely halted in 2004-2009 by a government that increased the public debt as a result of which the country reached the brink of bankruptcy and entered into a great adventure. What we must do now is to address the structural causes that have led our country into an environment of recession and insecurity. The government of the New Democracy at this moment lost the opportunity to take advantage of the large funds that came in order to see strategically important changes in our production model”, characteristically noted Mr. Tsoukalas.

Regarding the issue of the President of the Republic, the Press Representative of PASOK – Movement for Change commented that “we as PASOK – Movement for Change consider that the institution of the President of the Republic is the par excellence consensual institution. His choice and face must embody political balancing. Therefore, since the right-wing faction is ruling, we must have a choice of President from the center-left so that all the people can be expressed by the two leading state institutions and at the same time be a guarantor of institutional normality. Obviously, persons who are worthy and have the necessary weight exist in all, especially in the big parties.

What we are saying is that in this particular situation, in order to express unity, when the Prime Minister is on one side, the President of the Republic should be on the other side. This is a strong tradition, inaugurated by Andreas Papandreou in 1995 with the selection of Kostis Stephanopoulos, and I believe that it has left a positive imprint on society with presidents who rose to the occasion.”

“The institution of the president is not for making fronts. As provided by the Constitution, the government has the first say in this choice. So, if the New Democracy government comes up with a proposal that meets the criteria we set, then we are likely to support it. But if it comes with a narrow center-right and partisan proposal to cover its own impasses, then we will not allow them to become institutional for the country.

While this discussion that has been going on for about three months does not honor the face of the current President.

We cannot answer the issue of nomenclature as there is no official announcement yet. At the same time, the government must come and justify, in the event of Ms. Sakellaropoulou’s non-proposal, which was the Prime Minister’s personal choice, why it is not proceeding with it, and then we will position ourselves institutionally on the issue,” he added.

Regarding the course of PASOK – Movement for Change in the last months, the Press Representative pointed out that “the previous year was very important for us, as PASOK – Movement for Change became the official opposition and there was a reconfirmation in the person of Nikos Androulakis through an exemplary internal party process . While we are on the rise and according to opinion polls we are the second party. We believe that 2025 could be a landmark year. If we succeed this year in becoming more competitive in terms of electoral influence, then the goal, which for us is a social issue, of political change in the country, will be possible. For change to come, a prerequisite is the strategic defeat of the New Democracy and its removal from governance. The government was used to a different type of opposition, we don’t just say “no” but we bring proposals. He is probably dizzy now because we don’t just say no, but we bring an alternative and costed proposal.

We will move more boldly and coherently and we will not stay only in a process of amendments but we will highlight issues with proposals of laws. 2025 is the year we will unfold our government program as well.”

Finally, regarding the topical question that Nikos Androulakis will submit – after the end of the national mourning – to the Prime Minister about the problems of farmers and the next moves regarding the issue of increasing insurance premiums from insurance companies, Mr. Tsoukalas noted:

“For us, productive growth is a prerequisite for demographic and developmental regeneration. We need to bridge the gap between urban centers and the periphery.

A big issue is that of the large increase in insurance premiums at insurance companies. Here we are talking about an increase that seems to be in 2025 for lifetime plans 14% and for annual plans more than 4%-5%. Last year we had over 179,000 cancellations of lifetime plans and 317,500 cancellations of annual plans. The cancellation rate is very high and people are left without coverage they had already paid for. This concerns both companies and private clinics that like the logic of oligopolies. These transfer the burden to the companies and they, in turn, to the citizens. Here a set of interventions is needed to avoid this oligopolistic structure”.