Pavlos Marinakis: Under SYRIZA, ERT had become a channel that would be the envy of North Korea

A harsh attack on SYRIZA was launched by the deputy minister to the prime minister Pavlos Marinakis, saying that under the SYRIZA government, ERT had become a channel that would be the envy of North Korea, while after 2019 it was transformed into a modern reliable state broadcaster.

The reason for the strong reaction of Mr. Marinakis were the reports by Syriza’s parliamentary representative Christos Giannoulis that he will wait to say something about the black anniversary of ERT’s closure.

“You are used to talking about the black anniversary of the closure of ERT but you don’t say what happened afterwards, once ERT was reopened. Because under the Syriazas government, Public Television was turned into a channel that North Korea would envy. After 2019, it went from being a North Korean channel to a modern broadcasting media and the most reliable state media in the country.” Marinakis and continued:

“It was this evil government, as you used to say, that decided that the chairman and CEO would take exams through ASEP, be evaluated through a transparent system, go through a review and take exams. For the first time in 13 years, the deputy minister can choose between three candidates.”

As Marinakis pointed out, “nobody was interested in saving ERT and the money that was falling into a bottomless barrel.”

“What fits is: look who’s talking,” the deputy minister pointedly remarked to the prime minister.

Still, Mr. Marinakis spoke of “parties who a year and a half ago, taking advantage of a tragedy, created the wooden gang“, of “party-insurgents who spoke of a government of viceroys, discounting the decision of Justice.”

“We insist that Justice will provide all the answers. We are not discounting anything. Leave the role of the prosecutor to the prosecutor, don’t rush, and if there is anything else, the judiciary will decide,” he stressed.

Referring to the amendment on ERT, Mr. Marinakis noted that “we managed, after the agreement of all parties, to settle the issue with a law that enables those who have the evidence to step on it and use it.”