Thanasis Kontogeorgis: Toxicity is not in the country’s interest, elections in 2027

Accusing that the national election will be held in 2027 was the Deputy Prime Minister Thanasis Kontogeorgis, in a statement on ERTnews Radio 105.8.

“The government is not considering the possibility of early elections,” he said clearly, while explaining “why”. “In the midst of a serious crisis in our neighbourhood with significant implications for the global economy – no economy will be immune – and with a project that we have to implement in the next 12 to 14 months, you understand that this is how we will proceed. Yesterday, after all, the prime minister opened the fan of one axis of our proposal for the next day: it is geopolitics, the economy, but also what kind of organised democratic polity we want.”

Summarily, “elections in 2027?” he was asked and answered one-wordedly: “categorically.”

At the same time, “the assumption of the EU presidency is a factor that is being taken into account, the country is being prepared regardless of who is in power in July 2027.” However, “the major thing is institutional consistency”, he said, referring to the exhaustion of the four-year term.

The interview began with the health issue of Giorgos Mylonakis, whois hospitalized as an intubated patient at “Evangelismos”. “It was a shocking event,” Thanasis Kontogeorgis, who was present at the incident, said at the Maximos Mansion. He added: “But I really deeply believe that the development will be good and that he will emerge victorious from this battle.” While welcoming the stance taken yesterday by “the entire Parliament, with few exceptions.”

Toxicity in the political scene

He then spoke of toxicity in the political scene, which, “besides the personal burden on people who are being hurt, is not in the country’s interest. When we are in a period of discordant signs, you need a ‘good mind’ and by that I am referring to political leaders.”

On this point, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the political system coming to an understanding on important issues, however, clarifying that “we will not agree on everything.”

Taking stock of Thursday’s debate in Parliament on the Rule of Law, he said: “I saw a prime minister discussing the present and the future, and I saw an opposition, with nuances of course, discussing mainly the past.” He continued: “I feel that people want a calm to understand what is happening” – and this, he added, also concerns the separation of powers and the functioning of the judiciary.

About the European Public Prosecutor, he recalled that Greece was among the first countries in 2021 to introduce into national legislation the regulation governing the functioning of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. “There is an excellent cooperation, there is a cloud not in relations but over the political scene, there were issues with how fast the documentation is progressing,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted, adding: “They need to proceed quickly for political figures, and there were events that may be directly or indirectly linked to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, such as some leaks or the partial dispatch of the case file. The prime minister said simply and institutionally that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is doing its job, we fully respect it – that is why the country’s progress on the rule of law issues is recorded.”

In conclusion, “it is this party, this government, this party that keeps the country in the European core, but I and I believe the whole political system want, when there are such issues, things to move quickly.”

On the issue that arose with Deputy Minister of Rural Development, Macarios Lazaridis, the deputy prime minister reiterated that “public style issues are always important in how the political agenda is shaped.” On this particular issue, “Mr Lazaridis, with his statement yesterday (the day before yesterday), made a self-criticism on the issue. From there he cleared the landscape a little bit about what had been done, whether the conditions were there, whether the recruitment was done in the right position and so on.”

In any case, he added, “citizens want those who deal with public affairs to be two and three times more careful and more formal. Citizens, on the other hand, recognize an honest acknowledgement of error.”