Nikos Pappas: “The choice between SYRIZA and ND is between stability and recession”
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
There is a huge gap separating SYRIZA’s strategies from those of main opposition New Democracy, which wants to bring back the policies it had implemented in 2014, Digital Policy and Media Minister Nikos Pappas said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on Sunday. According to the minister, voters will once again condemn ND’s policy platform at the polls, which will take place in the autumn of 2019.
The dilemma facing voters at the elections, Pappas said, is a clear choice between “recession, unemployment, lay-offs and scandals or continuing on the path of recovery and stabilisation.” He called on Mitsotakis to clearly state his position on whether public-sector staff should be laid off or not.
Questioned about the issue of pension cuts and a lower tax-free allowance, the minister gave a “two-part” answer: on the one hand, he pointed out that a swift conclusion of the final review and ending the bailout programme must be the priority at this time; on the other hand, he said, once the programme was completed and depending on fiscal performance, “any discussion will be legitimate”.
“Alexis Tsipras is neither George Papandreou, who said ‘there is money’ then brought the first bailout programme, nor Antonis Samaras, who said ‘renegotiation’ and brought the second bailout programme. Whatever Alexis Tsipras achieved or did not achieve, he presented it to the Greek people,” Pappas said during the interview.
Talking about his ministry’s portfolio, he outlined the results of his visit to Cyprus and the agreements on telecommunications that were signed there. He also referred to a draft bill that will be tabled in Parliament during the next few days for the universal provision of a television signal throughout Greece and the need to organise tenders for regional and theme-based television channels.
Pappas rejected ND criticism that his ministry was “all words, not deeds,” noting that he had overcome obstacles relating to frozen funding that was ND’s legacy and proceeded to approve 53 digital projects with a total budget of 550 million euros. In four months, he added, seven ‘horizontal’ projects had been planned and put up for tender, financed with funds from the national Public Investment Programme, and contractors will be found within the year.
AMNA