A new period has begun in which the government’s aim will be growth with fairness, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in an interview with the newspaper “Efimerida ton Syntakton’ published on Sunday.
“Growth because the country and the economy are entering a phase of reconstruction. And fairness because such growth only has meaning when its benefits are spread throughout society,” Tsipras said. He explained that growth will be accompanied by ever stronger social protection, support for labour and the small and medium-sized economy and a proportional distribution of the benefits, in the same way as the burdens had been distributed during the crisis.
The prime minister said he was satisfied with the agreement on the debt, saying it was the best that could be achieved given the circumstances and it was the first time Greece was given clear commitments and not just promises. Most important of all, he added, the agreement called for a “debt-capping” mechanism that will ensure the country will “never pay more than 15 pct of its annual GDP on debt repayment.”
Regarding the upcoming negotiations for the second review of the Greek programme, Tsipras said the government will “protect labour, in the same way that we did for primary residences and pensions.” The involvement of the European Parliament and the International Labour Organisation in the talks will, in any case, “broaden the alliances we have already formed,” he added. Greece was now able to draw “red lines” and defend them effectively, the prime minister said, as it had not done in the previous five years.
Asked to make an assessment of main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis since his election as party leader, the prime minister criticised him for adopting “extremely divisive language, launching insults and criticisms at every opportunity.” While denouncing populism, Mitsotakis adopted political positions that were a rehash of headlines in ‘Proto Thema’, the most populist and sensationalist of the country’s media, Tsipras added.
He also accused the main opposition leader of lacking binding proposals for reforms beyond dismissals and the abolition of the municipal police and school caretakers, which were his own reforms as a minister. “The only time that he tried to talk about the issues was …to the Washington Post. And he defended the reform proposals of the International Monetary Fund.”
The prime minister went on to announce the government’s intention to launch a dialogue on changing the election law, which must be completed in time for the next elections in 2019, while also referring to the role of the European Left.
“We are investing in a reconstruction of the European Left and the realignment of alliances in Europe,” he said, noting that serious talks were taking place with all forces, and sometimes with great difficulty, “because we believe that such a realignment of alliances and correlations is the path toward a political re-orientation of Europe.”
(Source: ana-mpa)
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