Pointing out that the community support packages from the government are spoiling the opposition’s narrative, Kostis Hatzidakis, at the Delphi Economic Forum.
Commenting specifically on the citizen support measures announced recently and the criticism of the opposition, Kostis Hatzidakis said: “Obviously not all the problems of the Greeks have been solved, but all these years steady steps forward have been made. The fact that our debt has been reduced so much is a policy of responsibility that shows that we have the new generation in mind. The fact that we don’t have deficits but surpluses is a positive signal to the markets that there is a country that is not exposed as it was in the past. We had unemployment of 18% and now we have 8%. How can you have a lower income with unemployment that is much lower than it was six years ago? So when Greeks get a job they become poorer than when they were unemployed?”
He also stressed that the reduction in unemployment is due to the government’s pursuit of a friendly investment policy which finally has a clear social dimension. “And we have other things to do. On the one hand an emphasis on productivity and on the other hand a fair distribution of wealth,” he said.
“If some in the opposition,” he concluded, “are annoyed that we adopt support measures from time to time that is their problem. It spoils their narrative that we supposedly have precedents with the people and want to torture them or torture ourselves by collecting a corresponding political cost.The truth is that we are pursuing a responsible fiscal and broader economic policy and we are moving forward with steady steps.”
As for revising the constitution, he called on those who oppose it to make suggestions. “Those who oppose the government’s proposals for the constitutional review should tell us what they are proposing. Or else they should say that everything is going well, that the way the leadership of the judiciary is selected is right, that Article 86 is right, that the way governments have been operating over time is right, and that the relationship between governments and parliament is in the right balance. In other words, the so-called progressive party in Greece will say that New Democracy and those who ruled the country did it perfectly and are lovers of our policies.We, however, who ruled, say that a lot has to change,” he said.
“The world,” he added, “is questioning us on many issues. It is good to listen to them and move consensually because we are all Greeks. We forget this in the political strife and in the “civil stone war” that sometimes goes on in our country, but we as Greeks must see some common denominators. And some things that we say in private we should have the courage to say in public.”
Kosti Hatzidakis said that the revision is an opportunity for an institutional reboot of Greek democracy and for the creation of a more reliable framework in the relations between the state and citizens, he added: “We want to move forward – I hope the opposition too because at least in theory they have agreed – with the revision of Article 86 on the responsibility of ministers. We want to move forward – hopefully PASOK also agrees because theoretically it had said so – the revision of Article 16 on non-state universities. We want to revise the article of the Constitution in relation to the tenure of civil servants and their evaluation.We want a revision in the way the leadership of the Supreme Courts is selected.I hope, as there is a discussion about the rule of law, that all those who talk about it will remember that one is related to the other. And of course, when talking about restarting the political system and Greek democracy, one should talk about the way the Parliament works, the way MPs are elected and the electoral system.”
