Democracy issues were highlighted in today’s speech in Larissa by SYRIZA-PS President Alexis Tsipras, who addressed the democratic reflexes of all citizens, regardless of their party preferences, as well as by PASOK President Nikos Androulakis. At the same time, he presented the main electoral dilemmas and “clarified” to disgruntled voters that “the only ‘punitive’ vote for the Mitsotakis regime is the vote for SYRIZA.”

Mr. Tsipras referred to the leaders’ debate, saying that the revelations of Mr. Mitsotakis had been made, and explained that he said something yesterday that he hadn’t said in so long: “This is the first time he has confessed to the wiretapping scandal. And he also acknowledged that there was no national reason for surveillance. But if there was no national reason for the surveillance, as he invoked national secrecy in the investigation to cover up the truth. Why is the EEM prosecutor in charge, Mr. Vlakhov, who signed the surveillance without a national reason, i.e. illegally, still remains at his post? Why has the Ministry of Justice not charged anyone for nine months?”

He then gave his answer: “Because just as scandalous as illegal surveillance was the cover-up of the scandal undertaken by the Mitsotakis regime. Manipulating justice, manipulating information, trying to manipulate independent authorities, abusing the institutions of parliamentary democracy. For nine months now they have been rushing and violating the rule of law and constitutional legitimacy. And they have the courage to point fingers at us, referring to democracy and constitutional legitimacy.” He added that Greece has become Europe’s black sheep and referred to “the European Parliament, which overwhelmingly accepts the report of the PEGA Commission, which demonstrates that Mr. Mitsotakis himself was the organizer of the surveillance.” Addressing the prime minister, he said, “This is where the Mitsotakis government brought Greece down. Identify with authoritarian democracies.”

Mr. Tsipras addressed conservative citizens who were listening intently to former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis: “And I ask them: will you wash away this shame for democracy and for your faction?” I appeal to every democratic citizen and ask him: in this election, will he vote for democracy or for its violators? Will this give Mr. Mitsotakis carte blanche to legitimize and continue even more uncontrolled and arrogant parastatal practices? Or will he breathe life into democracy with his voice?”

On a stool parastatal intercepts

He referred to the words of the President of PASOK: “But yesterday I also heard Mr. Androulakis say for the first time so clearly that the perpetrators of this semi-public administration must be brought to justice. This is correct and reasonable. But I wonder if he realized that this will never happen again with ND in local government. I wonder if he understands that the only way to achieve justice is to decisively and decisively defeat the government in wiretapping and cover-up. And instead, take the reins of a progressive cooperation government the day after the election.

Give space and breath to the independence of justice, investigate the scandal and put the perpetrators in court. To put it simply: With semi-state eavesdropping on a stool and the open possibility of cooperation with the high priest of eavesdropping, this is impossible. This is not consistent with common sense.”

Appeals to the Left

Mr. Tsipras stressed that a simple proportional election is not a free vote and explained: “Whoever comes first will be able to form a government. Do not listen to Mr. Mitsotakis, if he wins with even one vote, he will try to create a motley government through pressure and blackmail. In any case, the victory of SYRIZA is the key to a progressive government. Because only a SYRIZA victory sends Mr. Mitsotakis ND to the clock. Only the victory of SYRIZA cancels another four years of unrest. Only the victory of SYRIZA opens the door to a better future.”

He appealed to other leftists, saying that those who claim the legacy of Andreas Papandreou cannot be duplicitous, and the KPD that he cannot repeat “ti Plastiras ti Papagos”. Specifically to Dimitris Koutsoubas, he said: “Mr. Koutsoubas appeared yesterday as a shepherd: we must tell him that leftist citizens, communists, are not sheep, and they understand that the dilemma of the ballot box is whether we will have a leftist government that restore the labor rights abolished by the Mitsotakis government, or allow the same government to continue on its way.”

In particular, he told PASOK: “We have presented a program of 11 points, let them tell us what they do not agree with or what additions they want to add to the 12th point.”

He also addressed those who want to punish the government, but are oriented in different directions: “The only thing that can really punish the ruling regime is the defeat of the regime, the defeat of the ND and the victory of SYRIZA. The vote that punishes the ruling regime is the vote for SYRIZA.”

He then attacked the prime minister for the pandemic, saying that “thousands of lives that could have been saved were lost during the pandemic due to his own responsibility because he deliberately discredited the NHS. And after the pandemic, instead of strengthening public hospitals, he dismantled them. And that opened the way for health profiteers to make a hole in the NHS.” He accused him of “unprecedented obscenity. Our country ranks first in prices for electricity, fuel and supermarkets. And the penultimate one, with Bulgaria, the last one, in terms of wages.” He accused him “of privatizing the checkpoint at a time when the energy crisis was looming” and added that he was “responsible for the plundering of public funds, as under his leadership there was a major robbery of tens of billions of direct orders to henchmen and blue locusts” . own responsibility.”

He accused him of being responsible for the redistribution of middle-class wealth, as “thousands of families are being evicted under his personal responsibility, from auctions of first houses, commercial housing and agricultural land, for debts of several thousand euros. . Because he himself provided the funds with the institutional tools to speculate on human misfortune. And 700,000 properties passed into the hands of the funds.”

But he also mentioned the debts of the ND, saying: “He has a double responsibility because he secured credit immunity for himself, his friends, his party. ND owes 400 million. Credits and loans. More than 12 million of his ministers. But Papathanasi’s rules apply there. So far, people have been deprived of houses worth several thousand euros.”

He also referred to Tempe’s “great crime, this unexpected tragedy that claimed the lives of 57 people. Why an unprepared stationmaster was illegally appointed with party bribery to such a critical position. Because the remote control station burned down in 2019 and no one took care of its restoration. Because the workers sent three outcomes, warning and declaring their fate, and did nothing. They only shouted shame at the SYRIZA deputies in parliament when they raised the issue of security.” But he also blamed him for the way “the prime minister himself and his ministers” handled things.

Summarizing, he said: “Now it is obvious: they see the popular vote as a washing away of what is pressing on them. And they don’t care. But those of us who care, and there are many of us, are not going to forget or calm down. We won’t forget!”

ND income has dropped sharply

He cited an OECD report that states that “Greece is the only country in Europe whose incomes plummeted during the crisis. Half of Greeks owe money to banks, society and insurance funds. Private debt increased by $40 billion during Mitsotakis’s four years in office. The public debt has increased by 50 billion. The middle class began to survive on coupons.”

He also mentioned youth: “All these years, young men and women have been targeted. They saw that their dreams were shattered. To build walls for them to access the universities. To offer them a jungle work environment. With unpaid overtime. And in the face of all this, how does Mr. Mitsotakis respond? Neglecting 150 euros for eighteen year olds. To buy their votes! Their dreams! He accused the prime minister of insulting the honor of the Greek people and added that “he will soon realize that hurting the people who rule in their honor is even worse than damaging their salaries and rights.” At the polls, Mr. Mitsotakis, at the polls. There you will see citizens talking about spasmodic measures and young people talking about your 150 euros.”

He referred to the SYRIZA program for farmers: “In the first 50 days:

– We decouple the wholesale price of electricity from the market price of natural gas.

– We set the maximum rate of return in energy production at 5%.

– We set a ceiling on retail electricity prices per megawatt-hour.

– We are reducing VAT on fuels (motor oil, heating oil, gasoline, natural gas) to the lowest rate in the European Union.

– We cancel the payment of EFFC for agricultural oil.

– We are reducing VAT on food products to 6%.

He noted that over a four-year period, the program provides for subsidizing the purchase of animal feed, subsidizing fertilizers, issuing microcredits up to 25,000 euros under the guarantee of the Rural Development Guarantee Fund financed by the Rural Development Program. He added: “We are eliminating deception fees, an unfair tax burden that is placed horizontally on professionals and businesses. Regarding agricultural debts: We pay off debts with immediate removal of attachments, cancellation of interest and long-term settlement of the repayment of the loans of the former Agricultural Bank.

Mr. Tsipras said the Greek people need a government that cares about ordinary citizens.. “Change is not the best party slogan. Change is again a social, political, national need,” Mr. Tsipras said. and posed a dilemma: “Mitsotakis or Change. Mitsotakis or justice. Mitsotakis or SYRIZA. He emphasized that “SYRIZA has drawn a roadmap for the path to justice. It’s a change contract that we proposed a few days ago.”

He outlined three measures he would put in place from day one of a progressive administration: “Suspension of all first home auctions until a comprehensive debt defense plan is in place. Reduction of VAT on food products to the minimum rate (6%). Resetting VAT on milk, bread, baby food. Reducing fuel tax to the minimum allowable level. Abolition of the minimum base for admission to universities”.

Source: RES-IPE