On Friday morning, the President of PASOK-Change held a meeting with the national confederation of people with disabilities. Nikos Androulakis. “Historically, PASOK has given great attention to issues related to the movement of persons with disabilities since its inception. Unfortunately, however, Greece has many steps to take in order to reach the standards of the Western European states in terms of an inclusive society, the services and support that our fellow citizens belonging to the disabled movement should have.” wrote the president of PASOK.

“We prioritize every law, every government decision to include a disability dimension, and always consult with the disability movement.

There should also be strong tax breaks, with income tax cuts for our fellow citizens who are more than 67% disabled, and new increases in disability benefits and disability pensions,” he added.

Mr. Androulakis then referred to his program PASOK: “In our program, we provide a very solid foundation for issues related to disability pensions, the new EKAS and the abolition of personal disputes.

This can be done tomorrow morning, because the financial costs are small. I agree that the programs of the parties on all these social issues should be evaluated by the Budget Office of the Parliament, so that citizens, pensioners, the disabled, young people who have a lot of problems can understand whether all this can really be done. Or once again you will be led after the elections to a very big disappointment,” he said.

And he explained in detail: “We are proposing special arrangements for the retirement of parents who care for people with severe disabilities, which were canceled by the third memorandum adopted by SYRIZA.

• Provision by the state of an assistant, a guardian for all people with a disability of more than 67%, not a small part as it is today.
• In the modernization of special education, our schools are very far behind, and without the modernization of special education structures, we cannot achieve inclusion education, which is the only way to have equal access for people with disabilities to all levels of education.
• Creation of community centers for chronic diseases for rehabilitation outside hospitals, for equal access for people with disabilities at all levels.”

“Another issue where we have a priority is to increase subsidies for social cooperatives, in which people with disabilities will take an active part to a large extent,” said Nikos Androulakis.

He stressed that “unfortunately, our country is irreparably vulnerable in this area. What has happened recently shows that the control mechanisms of the state do not work.”

“We have a priority in giving fiscal space to a new generation, we have a duty to support people to create a society for all, and I’m also talking about the movement of the disabled, the elderly who live on starvation pensions.

To become a humane society, this fiscal space with serious social services and a fair tax system must support the people who, unfortunately, the economic and energy crisis put them on the sidelines,” his message concludes:

“No matter how much the government embellishes the situation, it cannot change the real picture. The figures of European organizations, unfortunately, are tragic. It is not possible today that 66% of the state’s revenues come from indirect taxes, and at the same time, the 120 listed companies in Greece will quadruple their profits by 2022, because they are profiting off the backs of the Greek people by raising prices. Opportunities exist as long as there are human priorities.”

With information from APE-MPE