The debate on the rule of law provoked by Nikos Androulakis was supposed to raise the bar.
Instead, it highlighted the gap between a government that operates with facts and a opposition that regurgitates slogans.
The Kyriakos Mitsotakis went straight into power. He posed the obvious question: is the country moving forward or turning back? And he answered with facts that are hard to dispute. Reports from European institutions and international organisations record progress. Not perfection, but clear improvement. And just as the opposition was trying to create impressions, the most telling moment of the session came.
Nikos Androulakis filed a report on the quality of the legislation, attempting to reinforce his criticism. Except that the document itself disbelieved him. The PM reminded him that this assessment ranks 2024 as the best year of the decade. A live political autogol, which condensed the opposition’s inability to articulate a coherent speech.
Otherwise, Androulakis was stuck to an old agenda. Hypocrisy, innuendo, generalizations. No new evidence, no substantive proposal. And finally with an insistence on an election that shows more political embarrassment than strategy. When PASOK is running about 20 points behind ND and he himself almost 30 points behind in suitability for prime ministry, staying on the ballot looks more like a political risk than a plan.
The picture of the rest of the oppositionwas even more revealing. Zoe Konstantopoulou spoke of toxicity, only to be reminded by the prime minister that she herself did not hesitate to adopt personal attacks even on his daughter. Kyriakos Velopoulos stuck to the familiar pattern of denunciations, repeating that he wants to govern independently, as if it were a realistic prospect and not a political joke. The KKE, through Dimitris Koutsoubas, once again moved into a category of its own, where everything is explained by the “system” and nothing translates into workable policy.
In the individual areas, the difference was clear. The prime minister spoke of faster justice, of digitization that limits ruling, of specific interventions in everyday life. From pensions to transparency in administration. A concept of a state that works without intermediaries and without dependencies.
The others have simply complained. The Syriza repeated the familiar “regime” talking points. Niki and Nea Aristera pushed the limits of their political endurance, without adding anything to the debate. Much noise, zero result.
In the end, the picture left no room for interpretation. A government that, with its mistakes, continues to produce policy and provide direction. And an opposition that calls for elections without being able to explain why, how and with what plan. Perhaps because deep down it knows that, if polls are held, the problem will not be the result. It will be the nurse of the next day.
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