K. Mitsotakis: Elections at the end of four years – My obligation to ensure the stability of the country

LAST UPDATE: 11:33

By Dimitris Gatsiou

In an absolute and categorical manner, the prime minister placed the elections at the end of the four-year period, pointing out, in the interview he gave to “Sky” radio, that what he is proposing is institutional order and political stability.

“We are entering the final years of the calendar… This does not mean that this should be an alibi to slow down and start from now on pre-election preparation and I have said many times that it is something I will not tolerate. Not only have we not slowed down, but on the contrary we want to cover some of the lost time, which was actually spent in dealing with many difficult crises that obviously three years ago we could not have predicted…”, Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized . “I understand why scenarios of early elections may be announced every time, but I assure you that I am not looking for a polling clearing to hold elections… Polling-wise the image of the government was extremely positive and we also have to take into account that there is the bomb of simple analogy. .. Simple analogy means that for some time, in all probability, my assessment is that it will not be possible to form a government, after the first ballot the country will have a caretaker government… My duty is to ensure the stability of the country and the governability, which today is assured. And if I have any political cost from it because we are going to have a difficult winter ahead of us I am fully willing to take it because I am never going to play with the institutions to endanger the stability of the country to serve the interest in quotation marks of my re-election… I have said many times that I want to be judged at the end of the four years for the work that I I will present to the Greek people about what we want to do…”, he pointed out.

At the same time, in his interview with Sky, the prime minister, among other things, noted:

– The reform of our country cannot be implemented in four years and in the end the citizens will make the comparison. What did SYRIZA achieve in the four years of its own government and what have we achieved in the four years of our own government… If the autumn is really explosive, is it safe to assign the authority of government for a few weeks to a caretaker government? I take the risk of stability and if this has a political cost, so be it. But I know that at this moment leading the country to early elections with the bomb, I emphasize this, of the simple analogy, with an unpredictable Turkey facing us, I do not believe that it is a national act… And if this leads me to incur political costs because I have to manage a difficult winter so be it…

– For us in New Democracy, the appropriate electoral system is the system of enhanced proportionality… An independent New Democracy does not necessarily mean a one-party government and I have proven it in practice… In very difficult times, the country needs governmental stability above all and that stability is best served by one-party governments like the one we’ve had…

– There are also parties that could be regulators who have clearly said that they do not want the leader of the first party as prime minister and that is wrong in my view… The leader of the first party should become prime minister… When Mr. Androulakis says that he does not respect the mandate of the Greek people, because the citizens do not only vote for a party, but also for a prime minister, I think this has some characteristics of arrogance. But, I will repeat that he is a young politician, he has shown characteristics of moderation and I was personally impressed by his position…

– Despite the crises, we were consistent in the core of our pre-election commitments. We said we would cut taxes and we cut them. We said that we will make the country an attractive investment destination and we will create many jobs to a large extent we are on the way… We have made important steps in the digitization of the state…

– On the issue of the university police, we could possibly have acted earlier. But it will make its appearance in the universities from September in a great effort to restore order, especially in the big universities of Athens, and not to be the dens of various bullies…

– When I read our programmatic commitments, I express satisfaction that at the core of the pre-election commitments we were consistent.

– The most difficult crisis was the devastating summer fires. Because there you realize that you are faced with a phenomenon that surpasses you. This year it scares me less because I think we have done better preparation.

– We drastically changed the mechanism. We have a difficult summer ahead of us, but I have a clear conscience that we did the best we could do to shield the country against phenomena that often surpass countries that are richer and possibly better organized.

– My criticism of the SYRIZA government for the tragedy in Mati was not about operational management. Although it is clear that if we had systems, like 112, things would be better. It was about the lousy communication handling and incredible cover-up effort that started with that show. That’s where I made my criticism and that’s what the citizens in Mati remember.

– There have been interventions in justice, but what needs to be done is much more than what has been done. Institutions such as the pilot trial, once implemented, will be able to significantly accelerate the administration of justice.

For Novartis:

– I respect the decision of the justice. I certainly have some questions about the reasoning as it was formulated in the will that saw the light of day, but from there on in the novartis case I hold the following. SYRIZA attempted to politically target 10 of its political opponents. The nine were acquitted by the judgment of the competent prosecutor, on the other hand, two top SYRIZA officials, the minister responsible for transparency, the deputy minister of justice and the minister responsible for mass media, are referred to the special court.

– Now the defendants Papagelopoulos and Pappas will face the special court. And for me, this case is closed, but the fact that two top associates of Mr. Tsipras, in critical institutional objects for the quality of the Republic, are referred to the special court is certainly a big stain on SYRIZA. Mr. Papagelopoulos is also referred to the Novartis case. The indictment against Mr. Papagelopoulos is broader. Of course, there was political intrigue and I insist on this characterization. Nobody apologized to the politicians.

For Greek-Turkish:

– We are on full alert, obviously we are very confident in defending our positions. But I don’t think we’ll have a summer as intense in the field as we had in the summer of 2020.

– What I can tell you is that it was a meeting that took place in a good atmosphere and I was clear with President Erdogan. There is not going to be any improvement in Greek-Turkish relations as long as Turkey continues to challenge Greek sovereignty. I told him clearly that I am not going to accept overflights over the Greek islands, nor can I accept any argument that links sovereignty over the islands of the eastern Aegean with their alleged demilitarization. I was clear and unequivocal. If Mr. Erdogan did not understand what I told him, I am not responsible. What is certain is that a month later we had a barrage of overflights. Perhaps Mr. Erdogan has not realized how much I insist on this line. The fact that the two countries are discussing does not mean that Greece is not going to use the framework of its alliances to defend its national rights.

– Anyone who believes that Greece has the ability to block the sale of weapon systems from the United States to Turkey, I think does not fully understand the real balance of power. But what we have managed to achieve is to explain to the US Congress that the sale of weapons systems to a NATO member country that is a source of instability and openly challenges the sovereignty of another NATO member country is not in the interests of the United States itself. States.

– Decisions are lengthy and in any case congressional approval is required to sell any system and I will reiterate publicly that right now Congress does not seem willing to sell weapons systems to Turkey until Turkey changes its behavior.

– Turkey must realize that at a time when NATO is facing an existential crisis, at this juncture it is not meant to create additional tensions within the alliance. To blackmail, to try to resolve issues not directly related to the alliance itself, by threatening another member state of the alliance.

– The second best scenario is to learn to live with our differences and if we can’t resolve our one basic difference that it doesn’t become a hotbed of extreme rhetoric that ultimately poisons public opinion. What worries me is that what Mr. Erdogan says to boost his political profile affects what the opposition says. And the opposition then over-themes and we climb the tree of extremism by targeting Greece for all the problems that Turkey has. And at some point all political actors in Turkey must realize that they must come down from this tree.

– I do not follow President Erdogan in this rhetorical intensity. I know that sooner or later we will talk again with Turkey and President Erdogan, as long as he is the president of Turkey. We will forget the “Mitsotakis jokes” that we heard after Evros, but then we sat down and discussed. An isolated Turkey is not in the interest of Greece. We want to have a strong framework of alliances and we want to agree that the way to solve the various can be none other than international law.