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TsiprasMitsotakisMitsotakis to Tsipras: ‘You turned hope into despair’
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Addressing lawmakers in Parliament during Tuesday’s off-the-agenda debate on reforming Greece’s pension system, main opposition New Democracy new leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis launched a full-scale offensive and accused the government of “turning hope into despair.”
“You are the most pernicious government in Greece’s history [after the fall of the junta in 1974]. You have led the country to the verge of exiting the Eurozone, closed the banks and signed a third memorandum,” he said.
On the issue of pension reform, Mitsotakis noted that a solution for the country’s pension system required a new social contract. He also admitted that mistakes were made in the past and that he had made a commitment, as the party’s new leader, not to repeat them. “You, however, do not assume your responsibilities, and don’t tell us that you have none,” he added.
Referring to ND’s efforts to address the pension system’s problems, he said that steps of progress toward reforming the system had been made leading up to 2015. The third memorandum clearly stated that the reforms of 2010 and 2012, if implemented, would improve the system’s viability, he added. There was no need to cut pension or pressure from the institutions for cuts in 2014, Mitsotakis pointed out.
“The 1.8 billion euros in additional measures were created by your ineptitude. You are part of the problem, you are not part of the solution. You did not take us forward, you took us two years back and society is turning its back to you,” he said.
Mitsotakis also criticised Tsipras for what he called a “divisive attack” in speeches on Sunday, during the first anniversary of SYRIZA’s government, accusing him of “poisoning society with class hatred.”
“The dilemma today is between the yesterday of populism and the tomorrow of truth and reforms,” he said.
ND’s leader criticised the government’s proposals on pension reform, saying that the government plan skewed the reciprocity of the system and eliminated incentives to continue working, since additional years did not increase the size of pensions. He also deplored the government’s failure to make any progress on the minimum guaranteed income, which he said was “abandoned”.
“What will happen to main pensions in 2019? The ‘personal difference’ simply transfers the problem to the future. You plan is not costed and without any financial validation. The refusal or inability to cost is delaying the negotiation and creating tension in society. You ask the opposition for an alternative proposal. We could reply that we did not create the problem of 1.8 billion euros but we won’t,” he said.