Main opposition PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis on Wednesday stressed that his aim as party leader was to provide voters with an alternative choice of government and programme to that of New Democracy at the next general elections, one that is capable of changing Greece.
"I will continue unfailingly in the commitment I made to the people of PASOK, who have twice elected me...I will do everything I can to give [the Greek people] this choice," he said.
Androulakis, who is scheduled to depart for a visit to the United States on Wednesday, also accused the government of using dangerous tactics and employing its superior communications "arsenal" to tar all political parties that have governed so far with the same brush, in order to then present voters with the dilemma "Mitsotakis or chaos". He suggested that this was to blame for the rise of Zoi Konstantopoulou's 'Plefsi Eleftherias' party in the opinion polls and PASOK's apparent slide, while expressing certainty that this did not reflect its true strength.
"As we progress politically in society, you can be certain that at the end society will say that there is no 'Mitsotakis or chaos', but there is New Democracy that brought these problems and did not solve the situation in the national health system, nor strengthened state education and a party with a programme for improvements. And I believe it will choose that one," Androulakis said, adding that his party was not slipping in terms of its true strength but rising, regardless of the opinion polls.
He accused ND of "trying to take everyone down with it" by talking of longstanding and fixed problems of all those that governed and "to create a fear, reminding people of 2015". According to the main opposition leader, "there is now an anti-political climate, which the government is seeking to instrumentalise in order to create the dilemma 'Mitsotakis or chaos'. This is a very dangerous game....because in the end, in order to get rid of them, people might even choose 'chaos' in a way that is painful for our country."
Commenting on the possibility of alliances with other centre-left parties, Androulakis said that this would ultimately operate in the ruling party's favour: "People expect solutions, they do not expect scenarios and behind-the-scenes deals. New Democracy will leave when people see a comprehensive programme for improving their lives."
On the parliamentary preliminary investigation into the former minister Christos Triantopoulos and its handling by the government, he said this should go ahead in the manner envisaged by the Constitution and not be cut short by referring Triantopoulos directly to justice. He pointed out that Triantopoulos would still be a minister if PASOK had not submitted its proposal for the parliamentary investigation committee, while accusing the ruling majority of an "a la carte" approach to the Constitution.
“ We exercise our parliamentary duties based on the Constitution. The Constitution is not meant to be circumvented. [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis does not want a preliminary investigation, he wants his own version of this. There is a Constitution, laws, findings of justice. Either they will respect it or they are afraid of something. And if you want my opinion, they are obviously afraid because they have told us too many lies,” said Androulakis. He argued that ND clearly does not want the parliamentary preliminary investigation to operate “ because it is very likely that other political responsibilities of individuals will be found” or that other evidence will emerge and the former minister may even go before a judge with a different indictment.
Speaking about international and foreign policy, he said the world was unprepared for what will follow after Trump's election and accused Brussels of "sleepwalking" since Trump had been a known entity since 2016. Regarding Turkiye and the recent developments there, Androulakis said that he saw "no European perspective for Turkiye, it has a different internal functioning, they do not respect human rights, there is no distinction of powers, on the surrounding map there is a huge undermining of the sovereign rights of other states". He noted that Europe must move forward, pursue a unified foreign policy and a unified armaments policy with joint production with smaller countries as well, so that the Greek people do not pay billions of euros for armaments without benefiting their economy, and a Euro-army.
He said that Greece's "calm waters" policy with Turkiye "sank in Kassos" as Turkiye "is constantly proving with its actions and plan that it will be and remain a strong revisionist force." He noted that Greece's response must be the strengthening all the deterrent tools of the country, of Europe, and creating an environment where "Turkiye cannot under any circumstances play a role to the detriment of Cyprus and Greece," adding: "if we strategically plan what we discussed at a European level, it is not easy for Turkiye to play a role to the detriment of Greece, because it is completely dependent on the European economy.