Die is cast. Elections on May 21, simultaneously with the accident on Tempe it still dominates the public debate, seeking new policies and ways beyond the permanent pathologies of the state. One week before the election date is announced, Mr. Michalis Chrysochoidisas former Minister of Transportation (2013-2015), participated in a meeting of the Tempe Institutions Committee and provided answers about the period during which he himself was in charge of railway affairs.

Today as a former Minister for Citizens’ Protection in the PASOK and New Democracy governments, and as a parliamentary candidate for the first time from ND. in the West Sector of Athens, he answers the questions of security and protection, as well as governance scenarios, which are discussed at the beginning of a long and tough pre-election period, which, not taken into account by all party headquarters, will be sealed by (at least) two important elections in Sunday.

– Not at all. This review is completely wrong. First, partnerships of companies, joint ventures as they are called, are the absolute rule for projects requiring complex know-how and experience, such as this one. Since when did collaboration become a disadvantage? In fact, in many tender procedures, the partnership of companies is mandatory. As for the contract, what you are asking about its execution does not apply. The correctness is confirmed by the control of the Office of Transparency, the Accounts Chamber, the approvals of the European Union. The contract was signed by ERGOSE at the end of the term of office of the government of Samara. The implementation was taken over by the management of the company, appointed by the new government. Delays during implementation are described in the audit findings. Once again, what the Accounts Chamber points out in its recent report on thousands of projects has happened: the responsible persons do not do their job and extend the deadlines.

“What has been done with civil protection must be done. After Mandra and Mati, this government has completely changed, updated and modernized civil protection. We, unfortunately, will always have natural disasters and shortages, but no one can say that the current state of civil protection – organization, planning, training, technology, funds – is the same as the chaos of 2018. protection and security should become an organic element and a key priority in management. This is not easy, because we live in an era of continuous, successive crises, and the state is often taken by surprise.

Let me tell you what I mean by top priority and why today is such an opportunity. Mayor who will give his budget to do, for example. beautification projects, it will be very difficult for him to gain recognition in the elections. A minister who prioritizes a project at 1% of his budget will face the same. This means that we politicians have failed to make it clear to the public that day-to-day protection and security is as important as border security.

Protection and security must become an integral element and a key priority in management. This is not easy, because we live in an era of continuous, successive crises, and the state is often taken by surprise.

– The country needs to improve its defense management. The shock of Tempe forces us to mobilize immediately. This is the moment when everyone understands that the importance of a project is not measured by financial size. This is a huge, absolutely systemic reform for the state. This means a change in mentality, methods, priorities from the rulers to the last civil servant. Training, assessment and continuous retraining of personnel is one of the main “keys”. Equally important is careful, systematic and productive supervision of those responsible. I especially insist on the latter. The human factor, i.e. the chain of action and coordination required in the execution of the project, is the most important.

I know this well from the police. The minister is the personnel manager of 55,000 women and men who are in business every day. No matter how many technologies, no matter how many “112”, if the application of rules and procedures is not checked daily, almost intrusively, there will be a fatal outcome.

That is, there is no other way to avoid a new “Tempe” than to redefine the priorities of the common good and the public interest. And the role of the hierarchy to serve him. The state must change, learn, lead it.

As long as evaluation is perceived as a punishment, and meritocracy is mixed with the social stigmatization of “losers”, politicians are doing something wrong.

“I don’t see the possibility of anarchy. Judging by today’s data, New Democracy will clearly be the first party. This guarantees the stability and continuity of the economic development policy. Tempi created a crisis of confidence in the state and the political system, which I mentioned above. It is clear that the prime minister understood this very well and behaves accordingly, not only in relation to the railways. This crisis of confidence is horizontal in the party system, so the ratios do not change significantly.

– I prefer state autonomy. And I say this now, when the situation became clearer after the announcement of the elections by the Prime Minister on May 21st. Precisely because I have a lot of experience in politics, I was taught that the governments that introduced most of the reforms were one-party governments that sought broad consensus, that is, without party blinders. Like PASOK after 1985, like ND today.

On the other hand, we are in an unprecedented electoral scenario that resembles a two-round electoral system. The prime minister has proven that he has political realism, but also a sense of responsibility towards the country.

Police need cutbacks

“Of course and unequivocally, I reject shadows of corruption when we talk about the entire House. There are rings that get in the way, and there are sworn cops. But it is unfair and dangerous to identify these few with the Body. I believe that in general the police as an Authority are systematically and in every way offended. Alas, if we start, due to opportunities and circumstances, to associate the police with corruption. On the other hand, the police also have their own responsibilities. The necessary internal reforms, both in governance structures and in education and training, must be commensurate with the needs.

I’ll come back to my remark about security management. The government must view the police as a key force protecting rights, from demonstrations to institutions. At the same time, it is and should be a constitutionally guaranteed force for security and the fight against crime.

Radical changes in the personnel structure are needed. And in education. First of all, meritocracy. Let’s understand right away that a policeman has no other motivation for improvement, except for a sense of justice. Otherwise, he will hide behind shields, tear gas and indifference.

– As you know, I left relatively soon and am not able to know about the continuation of investigative actions and coordination with the court.

“The wiretap case has been open for several months now, and your name was also on the watch lists. How did you feel when you were being watched? What did the Prime Minister tell you? Do you think the matter has cleared up or are there still shadows, as the opposition and almost all constitutionalists claim?

– The main thing is that the government increased the guarantees for the implementation of state-owned connections by law. There were legal loopholes and activities that allowed for abusive acts. Justice is investigating this and I’m sure everyone wants the situation cleared up.
Let me have one more thought. Technology is evolving faster than the evolution of institutions. World. Think of the UK or the US with cases of influencing elections. In order to cope with this phenomenon, politics first of all needs a new, common social ethos.

The polarized democracy of late post-colonialism and post-memorandum inconsistency cannot contribute to this. But this spirit is unimaginably lacking, and democracy is suffocating in front of technology.

After all, when we talk about protecting governance, we are also talking about protecting rights and institutions. Along with national security and disasters or accidents. This combination is the new social spirit.

But let’s not be one-sided. After 10 years of economic poverty that dramatically changed people’s lives, and then a series of crises that ended with a pandemic, we are in for a white day. Tempi lands hard. We have taken steps, but we have a lot of big things ahead of us.