The clear message is that the showdown in the upcoming elections will be for second place was sent by Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris.
As he said in statements to SKAI, the issue is not which party will come in first, but whether New Democracy will have a majority. “After being in government for seven years, you’d naturally experience some wear and tear. We’re not talking about whether we’ll be the leading party, but whether we’ll have a majority. This shows that people recognize what we’ve done,” he said emphatically.
Commenting on the current situation within the opposition, he said that “the election race will be between Tsipras and Androulakis. The same thing happens in sports leagues: the top spot is decided, and there’s a close race for second place.”
In this context, he noted: “Tsipras says it will be a close race, Androulakis says he will win, Karystianou says she’s aiming for an outright majority, given the poll numbers we’re seeing, can’t we aspire to convince more voters to secure a majority on our own? Even today, people recognize that New Democracy has a core platform. We must not make the mistake of getting caught up in what’s happening below us.”
I don’t think Samaras will form a party
When asked about Antonis Samaras and the possibility of him founding a party, he stated: “If he decides to form a party, it is certainly something that will not go unnoticed in our political sphere; it is not the case with other parties that are further to the right than New Democracy. My assessment is that he won’t form a party; he’ll weigh his options and realize the need for the political bloc.”
Returns
Regarding immigration, he initially emphasized that “unfortunately, PASOK did not vote in favor of the return regulation; the Social Democrats considered the procedures to be too strict and harsh, as people are being returned to third countries from central Europe. What the new pact does, in line with the new regulation, is split those arriving illegally into two groups: if you have a refugee profile, you go through the process as it stands today; if not, you are detained, and within 12 weeks your asylum claim must be reviewed and you must be returned.”
