Greek Elections: New Democracy Leader Meimarakis Calls for Consensus

“We chose Omonoia (Concord) Square to symbolize the path we want for the country. We sent messages of unity to all the Greek people,” Meimarakis said during an election rally in central Athens.

Speaking of potential alliances after the ballot, Meimarakis reiterated that the conservative party is open to alliances, saying, “We will cooperate with those who want to; those who don’t can go their own way.”

“With God’s help and the people’s will, we’ll form a government on Monday with New Democracy as the main party. A government of the worthy and the competent, a government of all Greeks,” he said.

Commenting on SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, Meimarakis criticized him for “plunging the country into chaos” noting he’s trying to fool Greeks into voting for him for the second time.

“Greeks don’t want more SYRIZA experiments, don’t want more populism. It’s time to finish with incompetence. The SYRIZA experiment ends on Sunday,” he said.

Furthermore, Meimarakis described Tsipras as a “peddler of promises” adding that Greece needs someone who wants to govern and is not trying to avoid responsibilities. He stressed the mistakes Tsipras and his administration have made in the past seven months.
“You want those who made one mistake after another, who led the country from one disaster to the next, and then apologized claiming inexperience?” Meimarakais asked the crowd.
“New Democracy has shown that it has the ability to govern, compared to the seven-month governing incompetence of SYRIZA,” he said. However, he said, things will not be easy. “We have a few difficult months ahead of us but we are determined to work hard and enforce structural reforms that are required.”