The new Secretary of the Political Committee of the New Democracy, Konstantinos Kyranakis, sent a message of unity, rallying and electoral readiness in his first television interview after his election on SKAI.

Kyranakis set as a central priority the preservation of the unity of the party and issued a call for rallying to all the executives and voters of New Democracy.

“We need a general campaign. There is no one left over. We need unity and rallying. Antonis Samaras and Kostas Karamanlis have contributed a lot to the party and the country. I do not believe that either of them wants to do harm to New Democracy. I have grown up politically in that party under both Karamanlis and Samaras. Antonis Samaras gave me the opportunity to be on the 2014 European candidate list. This is not something I can overlook or forget. On the other hand, unity is of great importance to us,” he said.

The new secretary of the New Democracy Party stressed that the party must reach out again to citizens who have become politically distant in recent years, acknowledging that there are voters who feel disillusioned.

“We recognise that there are disillusioned people. We recognize that people who were with us in 2023 and were part of that very big election result may see mistakes or things that are bitter to them today. We want to talk to them, we want to have a dialogue with them and we want them to come back home. That is the very big and specific targeting that we have,” he said.

He made special reference to the need to maintain the positive climate within New Democracy and to strengthen the party’s confidence ahead of the elections.

“My main target is that we should be rallied, united and optimistic. A key flaw of the New Democrats is that although we may be ahead in polls and have recorded big election victories, there is always a defeatism. I want that defeatism to be eliminated. Because we have to go to the elections with the psychology of a winner,” he noted.

At the same time, he emphasized the renewal of the political staff of the party and the need to give space to young people to express themselves politically.

“Just as my generation was given the opportunity at some point to have a public platform, to get on the ballot papers and to play politics with New Democracy, we want to do the same with the next generation, which has to represent young people who today are largely voiceless. I want to bring new blood to New Democracy. That is the bet,” he said.

Target is to exhaust the four-year term

Kyranakis also stressed that New Democracy must be in constant electoral readiness, reiterating that the goal remains the exhaustion of the four-year term.

“The Prime Minister has called for readiness. This means we are entering a marathon. I think the elections will be held in 2027, but we have to be ready with ballots, with the party machinery alert and with a proper political message, unified and understandable to the people,” he said.

He concluded the interview by referring to the work implemented at Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, making special reference to the interventions carried out in the Greek railway after the Tempi tragedy.

“In my first public statement when I took on this difficult portfolio, I made a promise to Greek society and to the parents who lost their children in Tempi. That the works would be finished on time, that safety barriers would be put in place and that the trains would be safe for any parent who chooses to put their child on board. I did that,” he said.

He noted that today the railway has five additional safety barriers compared to the period before the Tempe accident, while the full signalling, telecommand and ETCS projects on the Athens – Thessaloniki axis will be completed in August, with no extension given.

“We worked night and day, me and my colleagues, our whole team, to be able to deliver a railway that is safer than the one we received,” he concluded.

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