Mitsotakis: We successfully managed all the crises – Elections at the end of four years

A great job is being done at the party level, let me say it as someone who is now quite old in the wider and then united NW of Athens. Stelios also told me that he has never seen more participation in party events in the whole country than in the last year.

And this is not just a proof of the optimism and strength of our party. I believe that it also reflects the genuine interest of citizens, neo-democrats, but also others, who want to participate in these processes, for what is being said in these debates. Because I want to remind you, friends, that we were elected in July 2019 having received an explicit order from the citizens: to change Greece.

I know and you know that a lot has happened in the country since then. An attempted invasion of Evros, great tensions with Turkey, the coronavirus health adventure and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine and an unprecedented global economic crisis, with inflationary pressures and large increases in energy prices.

We have managed all these crises, I believe, with honesty and efficiency. However, we did not stop, we did not stop for a moment to implement our pre-election program, to make reforms, for the benefit of the citizens. And I believe that the reforms we have made in the state, in their digital form as well as in their physical form, are an emblematic proof of the way in which this government perceives the changes that have a truly progressive sign.

Kyriakos was right when he said that “these changes were planned when we were in opposition”. It was the result of the experience I gained when I was head of the Ministry of Administrative Reform. That is, when I was in charge of both portfolios which are currently represented by two Ministers.

It was only then that I realized that I could be a kind of Minister of e-Government, but all the power of e-government was fragmented in various Ministries.

And the first thing we did when we created the new Ministry of Digital Governance was to bring all these databases and all the procedures under one political leader.

We started timidly with gov.gr, and today if you ask the citizens regardless of party origin, “tell me a reform that this government has done and made your life better”, from the many, the vast majority of citizens will tell you the successful example of digital governance.

Why; Because very simply, with relatively simple moves, we made the life of the citizens easier. It is a sign of respect for the citizen to recognize that we have an obligation as a state to facilitate him and we have no obligation to bother him. Because until today, at least until this government came to terms with things, the citizen’s perception of the state was that the state creates obstacles and obstacles in his professional, personal, social path.

That is changing. And it changes very quickly. Today we just had the opportunity together with Kyriakos, together with Theodoris, together with Thanos Plevris, the Minister of Health, to present new services that have essentially to do with the medical data of the children.

That is to say, to create an essential digital booklet, not to have the stress – we all parents know how big trouble it is to lose the children’s health booklet and not to know what vaccines our children have received. And this problem can be solved using technology.

And we will continue in this direction. We still have extremely ambitious plans to simplify a series of procedures which will now have a significant financial footprint.

Let me give you one more example. Anyone who has made a property transfer knows how time consuming and difficult it is. We will simplify this as well, using technology and simplifying the procedures behind an operation that should be done very quickly. Here, then, is a reform that facilitates the citizen but at the same time has a development sign.

But the state, friends, is not only its digital side, it is also its natural side, it is the civil servants, it is the Local Government that is under the supervision of the Deputy Minister.

I will not say many things about this issue – you will have the opportunity and then discuss them in more detail – I will only say that it is a big cut for the Greek public administration that we can plan the recruitments on an annual basis and implement them. in a meritocratic way and faster than how we implemented them in the past. There will be a nationwide competition from which we can then draw successful people to staff public services. This is a very important cut.

But an even bigger breakthrough for the future of public administration is that the individual evaluation of the employee can be linked to additional earnings. This is a reform that is compatible with our ideology.

We do not want the equation down, but in order to be able to justify the productivity bonus we must be able to measure productivity in some way and that is why we will start with those actions and those employees that can have measurable results. And I assure you that this is a reform which, when implemented in its entirety, will be a real breakthrough for the State.

Finally, on the issues of the Municipalities, let me say just two words. The first has to do with the simple analog and with the hoarseness that she put in the administrations of the Municipalities. With the complete weakness, that is, Mayors who may have been elected in the second round but had a small, sparse presence in the first round, to be able to administer the Municipalities. We dealt with it in the context of constitutional restrictions in the best possible way.

And the second, of course, the most important financial tool of the “Tritsis” program, in which old financial tools were combined, which enables the Municipalities to implement a series of projects that come and go in line with our national development strategy. And the inclusions in the program have already accelerated a lot and many Municipalities, all Municipalities in essence, will benefit from the “Tritsis” program. And many will already be able to implement projects before the next municipal elections, proving in this way that we can give the Municipalities the funding to implement projects that are for the benefit of the citizens.

I want to close with an observation that has to do with the dividing lines in society, as they are formed today. And I think that the analogy here is interesting, because what we observe in Greece is not only a Greek phenomenon, it is also a European phenomenon. If you look at what is happening in France today, you will find that the battle between President Macron and Marine Le Pen is not really an ideological battle. It is a battle between two different perceptions of progress and maintenance.

In the same way, I believe that the political dilemmas in our country are formed. Tell me if all these nice things we do at gov.gr have a party color. If it is Right, if it is Center, if it is Left. It is neither Right, nor Center, nor Left. They are correct and progressive. They are measures that respect the citizen and they are measures that prove that this faction always puts the citizen at the center of its interest.

These, then, the new dividing lines will shape the political landscape and as we go to the next national elections, which will take place at the end of the four years, in ’23. However, I want to reiterate that it is very important for our party mechanism to be fully vigilant and to be in a state of dynamic anticipation and preparation for the next election.

And our 14th Congress is very important in this direction. To elect our new institutions but above all, friends, we will certify something that the vast majority of citizens know, even if not all of us may vote for it: that today the only political force that can guarantee stability and The country’s progress, its adaptation to the European acquis, is our great faction, it is the New Democracy.

So let us all hurry together, dear Secretary, dear Giannis, dear Stelios, to participate en masse in the 14th Congress and I really wish all the pre-conference events until then to gather the same interest.

Because you are not here only in the capacity of party executives participating in a party event out of party patriotism. No. You are here to convey the government’s message to society. But also to convey the messages of society, through the party, to the government. Because that means today that you can have the “pride” of being a member of a large progressive patriotic party, such as New Democracy.