His removal from the ballot SYRIZA announced George Katrugalosfollowing the political “storm” that erupted yesterday over his self-employment insurance premium claims.

Mr. Katrugalos, in a statement, takes on “political responsibility” and says he is “withdrawing from the election campaign” while referring to “a theatrical performance organized by New Democracy.”

Announcement of Katrugalos

“Watching a theatrical performance organized by New Democracy about my application for insurance premiums yesterday. From the very morning I made it clear that I had in mind personal principled positions, and not the programmatic positions of SYRIZA-PS, which have been published for a long time. New Democracy’s slander of a “hidden agenda” is false. Leftists always speak the language of truth. If there was a hidden agenda, would I voluntarily reveal it two days before the election?

But the damage is done with the help of the right pan-empire. I won’t make it easy for her. Also, my involvement in politics has never been from a personal interest, but from the point of view of a proposal. I left the European Parliament when I was invited to the first SYRIZA government and didn’t jump into insurance reform hot potatoes without knowing the risks.

I take full political responsibility for my yesterday’s position and declare that I am withdrawing from the election campaign.

I’m watching a theater performance put on by the New Democracy on the occasion of my insurance premium application yesterday. From the very morning I made it clear that I meant personal principled positions, and not the programmatic positions of SYRIZA-PS, which are published here and …

— George Katrugalos (@gkatr) May 18, 2023

SYRIZA reaction: He who deviates excludes himself

Komunduru said in a statement: “The middle class paid dearly for the crisis and the arrogant policies of Mr. Mitsotakis, who did not care. Thus, the middle class is only entitled to relief. The SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance Change Contract is absolutely clear in this regard. Our collective vision, our moral duty obliges us to bring it to life.

Anyone who deviates from the Change Contract, knowingly or by mistake, places himself outside the collective effort for great change. On Sunday, the Greek people will be asked to sign a Treaty of Change and Trust, and nothing more. And judge us by our performance.”

Scherchos: He left very badly

Hours after the statement in which Giorgos Katrougalos announced his decision to withdraw from the SYRIZA ballot, a government spokesman Akis Shertsos in his statement, he emphasizes that “we all understood that they were just caught in the act” and that Mr. Katrugalos “left badly because he is a ‘witness'”.

“In the morning, the representative of SYRIZA tore her robes, saying that her party was a victim of distortion by the ND. By noon, Mr. Katrugalos was forced to resign.

But we all realized that they were just caught in the act and he left badly because he is a “witness”. With each passing day, progressive Babylon is revealed and crumbling. We leave them to the judgment of the citizens…”

Position on insurance premiums and reactions

The backlash followed the former minister and SYRIZA MP in a TV interview. Mr. Katrugalos, among other things, mentioned that “there should be a connection, insurance of contributions with income.”

Government spokesman Akis Skertzos accused SYRIZA of a “hidden tax raid program”, noting that SYRIZA’s goal is to “restore (…) the Katrougalos Law regarding the self-employed’s contribution rate of 20% of their annual income. income”.

“The logic of the insurance reform was that no matter how much an employee, an employee or a worker pays – 20% of his salary – the self-employed should also pay. This has led – in 80% of cases – to lower insurance premiums than they used to pay,” SYRIZA candidate Giorgos Katrugalos said yesterday, speaking about the insurance law of the SYRIZA-ANEL government in an interview with BLUE SKY.

And he continued: “Mr. Vrutsis came in and implemented the policy of the “New Democracy”, that is, freelancers will no longer pay based on some objective criterion – either time or income – but will be based on certain classes of insurance. And he stressed that “it is quite logical that the insurance obligation is tied to income, and not to an arbitrary amount.”

“We should have a policy in favor of the 80%, not in favor of the few. The second argument is that there should really be a connection, contribution insurance with income, for the reason that when we have a single fund, different rules cannot apply to employees and freelancers (…). Our commitment is to rebuild a system that will benefit the many and not the few (…). We also offer €10,000 tax free for freelancers. For this reason, we will have an objective relationship between the income of both employees and freelancers,” added Mr. Katrugalos in his same televised speech.

On Thursday morning, before announcing his withdrawal from the SYRIZA ballot, Mr. Katrugalos responded with a statement on Twitter about his appearance on television, saying that “regarding contributions, I expressed my personal opinion that it is better that most people pay less and no one is overwhelmed.”

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