Saying that “we are very close to making Crete our castle again PASOKthe castle of the democratic faction, the faction that changed Greece,” the president of PASOK-KINAL began his speech in Heraklion, Nikos Androulakiswithin the framework of the thematic event “Sustainable Economy – Just Society – Strong Greece”.

“Who expected that in 2022 and 2023 we will face such scandals as wiretapping. How is it possible that someone who wants to be called a liberal organizes parastatal wiretapping at the expense of his political opponents? Is he a liberal who, first apologizing (as after the tragic incident at Tempe), then tries to present the political leader of the country’s third party as an agent of foreign powers? Was it done in the years before the post-colonial era? Is this the worst face of the right? Mr. Androulakis said.

Regarding the tragedy at Tempi, Nikos Androulakis said that “many mistakes are made many times, but there are technologies, they exist all over Europe and all over the world to protect human life from human mistakes and not be in the hands of one, the bully of the New Democracy, to dozens of human lives.” They have the audacity to shift the blame to the previous 20 and 30 years, instead of answering how it is possible, while the age limit for retraining is 48 years old, that a man is 10 years older than one and with minimal experience.

Regarding contract 717, he said that “since 2017 to date, it has received seven renewals, both under SYRIZA and under ND, and now they say that the project will be implemented in the coming months […] Even if the project is implemented in the coming months, for Greece the protection category will be number 1, while in the whole of Europe the protection category for trains is number 2. What does this mean? That in a few years we will be looking for spare parts and will not find suitable for these protection systems.

“Sorrow deeply stigmatized the homeland,” Nikos Androulakis lamented, noting that “after this tragedy, the curtain automatically opened to show for the second time the state of Mr. Mitsotakis’ state. What is this system of power in the palace of Maximos, the so-called elite system, a system where everything goes well, when everything is done on the orders of Mitsotakis, when everything goes wrong, Mitsotakis knows nothing. This absolute irresponsibility will be judged in the next national elections, but it will be judged through a string of traumatic events for the Greek people.”

Regarding wiretapping, Mr Androulakis said that “this is not a matter of gossip, which is why the European Parliament and the European institutions are so concerned. Because they know very well that without strong democracy, transparency and meritocracy, there can be no prosperity and economic development.”

Mr. Androulakis referred to economic restructuring, private debt, the need to strengthen the national social security, and labor and wages.

“Mr Mitsotakis will arrive before the elections, holding tens of thousands of Greeks hostage, to announce his measure. We tell him today from Heraklion to follow the workers’ proposal and not announce a single euro less than the GSEE minimum wage proposal, especially because of the very big economic crisis. But that alone is not enough, he must free up a three-year period so that those who receive the lowest wages can finally move forward in terms of wages – and he must also declare binding industry contracts that have been signed, the first including workers hotels, especially in Crete and the thousands of workers on our island and in the rest of Greece,” said Mr. Androulakis.

Attacking ND and SYRIZA, President PASOK-KINAL stated that “these two players in the political system have only one principle: they are capable of anything just for the sake of a position of power. They manipulate situations: one said it would change Greece and create strong institutions, and the other said it would bring social justice. You will experience the results today on your skin. Greece lives with huge inequalities, it has lost opportunities with the European Recovery Fund, for the first time it has been targeted by the European Union for democracy.”

“When a scandal arose involving the European Parliament and the head of PASOK, how many minutes did we react, showing that no one was holding us back, that we had decided to be relentless in relation to phenomena that undermine the Greek people’s trust in the politician, and this is my personal obligation to the Greek people,” said Nikos Androulakis. “Let the citizens consider: Did Mr. Mitsotakis show the same delicacy towards his nephew, the protagonist of the audition, who did everything possible to protect him and the companies involved?” Of course not. Did Mr. Tsipras do the same to his buddy when he was convicted 13-0 by the Special Court for soliciting and trading TV licenses with the powerful in the background? He just put it on the ballot,” he said during his speech.

Finally, regarding the dilemma of national elections, he said, “this is not Tsipras or Mitsotakis, this is not New Democracy or SYRIZA. The real dilemma. or a state that is the prey of the respective rulers, which will be exploited for the sole purpose of becoming a client state and strengthening their power, or a state that guarantees the public interest.

Speakers at the event included Nikos Christodoulakis, Former Minister and Head of In Social, Dimitris Spirakos, author of the 2010 PASOK First Home Protection Act and Secretary of the Private Debt and Borrower Protection Sector of PASOK-Movement for Change, and Dimitris Anastasopoulos, Deputy Secretary of the same sector.

^{Source: APE-MEB}