PM Mitsotakis: SYRIZA has yet to learn the lessons from its election defeat, rules out possibility of early elections

PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks in Parliament replying to SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras during prime minister’s question time. ANA – MPA/Alexandros Beltes




Main opposition SYRIZA has yet to learn the lessons from its previous term in governance and its defeat in the general elections, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in Parliament on Friday, replying to SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras during prime minister’s question time.

“Mr. Tsipras I discerned a tension and shortness in your first speech. It seems the air in Thessaloniki did not help your psychological mood, perhaps because there were not just backdrops to greet you at the metro but a real work site,” Mitsotakis said, in response to Tsipras’ question on “Effectively dealing with the consequences of the healthcare crisis on the Greek economy.”

Mitsotakis accused Tsipras of continuing to “dress up” the state in the economy when he handed over governance and failing to answer the key question, which was why he had lost the elections in July 2019 by such a wide margin if things were going so well.

“And if things today are going as badly as you claim, why do the polls reflect an optimism index that is completely different from that you present. I fear that you have not yet learned the lessons from your previous governance and the verdict of the ballot box,” he added.

Mitsotakis noted that the credibility of an economy can be measures in many ways. “I do not need to tell yout that the economic confidence index skyrocketed after the elections. There is also a very objective measure of comparison. How the markets rate the course of the economy. Markets lend to us and must lend to us at a reasonable rate, so that we can finance a very large debt that increased during your term. You accessed the markets at a rate of 3.9 pct. The Hellenic Republic in conditions of pandemic borrowed at an interest rate of 1.57 pct. This is the best answer to your claims regarding the overall course of the economy,” Mitsotakis said.

The prime minister also pointed to the Eurogroup’s praise of Greece’s handling of the pandemic and said that “everyone has drawn their conclusions on whether the country came together behind this effort. The support of the EU and the credibility that Greece has managed to gain in Europe is credited to us over the long term and reflected in the fact that we secured a very large sum.”

He also rebuffed Tsipras’ claim that the economy had fallen into recession before the pandemic lockdown, noting that it had grown by 1 pct in the last quarter of 2019, and had shrunk by only 0.9 pct in the first third of 2020, as opposed to an average of 3.6 pct in Europe.

 

PM Mitsotakis rules out possibility of early elections 

“This government cares about the whole of Greek society without discriminating,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras on Friday in parliament. “We are all judged by our policies,” he said .
Mitsotakis ruled out the  possibility of early elections, adding that the country does not need elections. “The main core of our policy has not changes but some interventions will be made. We hope to receive significant amounts of capital from the recovery fund, so you have ample time to go on your holidays and we can make an appointment for the elections in 2023,” Mitsotakis concluded.

Source: ANA – MPA

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