“The government chooses, heading towards the elections, to follow a strategy of constant polarization and agenda change, in order to avoid the discussion around the real problems of society”, argued Kostas Tsoukalas speaking to MegaNews.

Referring to the government’s amendment on the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, the PASOK-Movement for Change spokesperson spoke of “communication fireworks”, stressing that “the government, after a hunger strike and a political defeat, suddenly remembered that there is a problem with the Monument to the Unknown Soldier”. “A problem”, he commented, “that didn’t exist when Mr. Georgiadis demonstrated there peacefully or when others participated in rallies for Macedonian”.

He noted that the amendment tabled was unnecessary and unconstitutional. “Unnecessary,” he said, “because the issue of monument protection is already covered by the Criminal Code. Specifically, Article 191A explicitly states that “whoever offends, defaces or pollutes” is punishable by imprisonment. So, there was no gap. The Police already have the authority to judge what constitutes an insult or pollution.” Unconstitutional,” he continued, because “when the government realized there was no legislative loophole in the protection, it turned the content into a ban on assembly – which is in direct violation of the Constitution.” “The repetition of provisions of the Penal Code in an unrelated amendment adds nothing new. Instead, it makes a mockery of the legislative process. The legal world reads it and laughs,” he said.

Mr. Tsoukalas emphasized that “at a time when confiscations from the tax office and funds reach 1,600,000 and another 2,200,000 tax IDs are pending, the government is mercilessly hunting the middle class and the average citizen who is trying to make ends meet.” He also spoke about “the exploitation of ordinary citizens, whom the executives of New Democracy call “housewives””.

Referring to the functioning of the state and public administration, he said that “according to the data of the TME group, Greece went from second to last in bureaucracy in 2023, to first in 2024”. He commented that “the same government that advertises itself as reformist has managed to make us champions in bureaucracy” and added that “when all other countries run faster and we lag behind, something is deeply dysfunctional”.

Regarding the economy, Mr. Tsoukalas noted that “the image of prosperity presented by the government is false.” “GDP may be growing, but private debt is growing in absolute numbers, auctions are increasing and real estate redistribution is unprecedented,” he stressed. “Greece has not managed to move to category A of the international rating agencies, as three major problems remain open: the demographic, the high deficit in the foreign exchange balance and the absence of substantial reforms,” ​​he noted. He added that “we are last in purchasing power and the government is celebrating because we are better than in 2017 when the country was still in memorandums. Alas, if we were not better since then.”

Regarding the “Truth Group”, the representative of PASOK emphasized that “for three days now we have been waiting for a response from the government on whether it adopts or agrees with what Mr. Drymiotis said”. He noted that “he himself is a private person – I disagree and consider his words reprehensible and deeply unhistorical – but he is a private person” and that “the problem starts when the “Truth Group” of New Democracy uploads his statement writing “he said it all”. Then New Democracy must answer: does it agree with the position that “leftists are not Greeks?” “The Truth Group is fed at the rectory of Megaros Maximos. That’s where the snake’s egg hatches,” he added.