A video leaked recently via the Internet reveals during an assembly of the local committee of New Democracy in Kilkis, a city in Northern Greece, municipal leaders asking the rank and file to find those who “were fed” by New Democracy during 2004 to 2009 and bring them to vote for ND. Panayiotis Psomiadis (shown in photo) was among those present, a popular figure who served as local governor in Northern Greece. Psomiadis has been implicated in one of the most notorious scandals uncovered in Northern Greece yet, mostly from taped phone calls by the Central Intelligence Service which have him collaborating with gangs to defraud the state in phony construction projects which were paid out but remained on paper only. He was finally convicted for only one of those offenses in 2012 and made to serve a one-year sentence with three years parole. Due to his conviction in 2011, he also lost his seat in the municipal government, which he had previously won in local elections. Ironically, Samaras, the ND leader, had put his trust in Psomiidis to become his main campaigner in Northern Greece for the 2012 elections.
Under his leadership in Northern Greece, the regional committee of ND convened an assembly to discuss the tactics of the campaign. In contrary to what most may expect, it was not focused on arguments and how to make people trust New Democracy again. The spokesperson for New Democracy revealed how New Democracy has governed and how it will govern if elected, “Out of ten people who voted for us in 2009 we know the eight who didn’t in 2012. We must find these people and remind them loudly that we gave them food to eat. We must address those who took projects and contracts with the state under ND. We must remind them that we gave them work. We must find those who erected stages in our honor and remind them that it was ND which fed them. We must tell the people who found jobs in the public sector through ND that they owe us. And the best way to repay us is to vote for us, them and their families. If all these people vote, we will be happily surprised on Sunday”.
In the following video a ND member explains the reasons why Greeks should not vote for them. Because the party sees the public sector as a way to reward their voters and their families by granting them permanent jobs, they will be elected again and again. It was the client system and corruption, what ND advocates and promotes, that brought Greece to its knees. The current ruling parties, mainly ND, show that they have not understood anything from the crisis. Even worse, they want to keep working under the same way that brought the disaster, as long as that can get them elected. New Democracy is not inherently more corrupt than PASOK. It is only their lack of experience and our keen knowledge of the tools of modern journalism that gives us the opportunity to see what they really stand for.
The video can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WiQ6jNCqw9U
(Source: Ta Nea, tvxs.gr)
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
