A response to the opposition’s slanders about the rule of law in our country, which they even export beyond our borders, was given by Pavlos Marinakis, in a statement to ALPHA RADIO.
On the occasion of the visit of the European Commissioner Michael McGrath to our country and his finding that Greece has made significant progress in the rule of law, the government spokesman stressed that our country, during the days of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has made leaps, not steps, leaps of progress.
The reality, he added, “has nothing to do with what the opposition is trying to build as a narrative, the narrative of deception and the government’s “misinformation mechanisms”. The Commission has the same assessment, he said, and Transparency International, the OECD and the Economist attest to the same. “And all of them, well, they have “colluded” according to the opposition, they have created an “invisible thread” that connects them to defend the “false” – according to the opposition – narrative of the government.” Pavlos Marinakis noted about international reports and evaluations that disprove the claims of opposition parties that the institutions are supposedly not functioning in our country
As for Michael McGrath, he stressed that he is the commissioner responsible for rule of law issues. Asked about his findings and credit to Greece for progress on rule of law issues, Pavlos Marinakis said: “About 1.5 years ago, 80% of public opinion, due to an unprecedented effort to misinform the public by the opposition and some media – not to “do justice” to the “assistance” of some of your colleagues, Mr Eugenides – they had believed that there were sticks in the wagons of the tragic accident at Tempe, that there were missing dead people, missing wagons and, in general, they had believed the whole theory of sticks, a theory which had literally ‘watered down’ a very large part of public opinion. Because at the time the opposition had tried to exploit the justified need and justified demand of society for justice in a tragic accident.”
As regards the opposition’s attitude, he noted that they do not only stick to slander within the borders, within the walls, but they also export this effort to the European Parliament together with some organisations and some non-governmental organisations, such as Reporters Without Borders. While, he added, they tell us that we are the last in matters of the rule of law in Europe.
On the contrary, he said, the reality is different. “The reality is that Greece under Kyriakos Mitsotakis has made spectacular progress on rule of law issues – and I will say in this regard and in my own portfolio of freedom of the press and media. Obviously there are also issues that we need to look at very carefully, institutional issues. But compared to the point at which we took power in 2019, b>based on all the official reports – not the undocumented subjective ones, the official objective reports – Greece has made leaps, not steps, leaps of progress.”
Our difference with PASOK
At this point, he underlined the difference between ND and PASOK and the other opposition parties. “We invoke objective reports of the European Commission, Transparency International, the OECD or decisions of the judiciary while PASOK and the rest of the opposition invoke their own opinions in an angry, outraged and obsessive way. I will not try to prove to you and the listeners that I am right by arguing that because I or the prime minister or the government say so, we are right. Every time I speak, I cite either official numbers, i.e. figures, data.
When we talk about issues of the rule of law, I cite official reports or decisions of the judiciary. The opposition invokes publications and various theories. In the case of backlinks, whether it has to do with legal backlinks, or whether it has to do with illegal software, in all these cases – to put it in context – the judiciary has made some decisions on each strand separately. So when we want to have – if the opposition ever decides to have – a serious debate in a civilised democratic state, we have to start from one premise: We respect the decisions of the judiciary.”
On this point, Pavlos Marinakis said:“When, then, third in line, a supreme judicial officer, Mr. Tzavellas, who was the recommendation of the Plenary of Judges and Prosecutors to the government to have this highest office in the judiciary, comes along and says what he says, we must learn to respect it. Just as we have never said anything about a decision of a single-member Court of Appeal that has been appealed, because we had an obligation to do so, alas, if we did say something, I think that is how the opposition must proceed if they want to be taken seriously at some point.
No costed proposal from Tsipras
As for the re-emergence of Alexis Tsipras and his goal of being first party, the government spokesman said: “It is his right to believe it. I have not heard any costed proposal so far. Or something that has a beginning, middle and end politically. I see a repetition of the rhetoric and logic of Mr Tsipras before the rebranding process. I think Mr Tsipras’ public appearances, as has happened in the past, are the facade of a man who wants to be pleasant but actually has nothing substantive to say. The face of Mr Tsipras, the real face of Mr Tsipras, is the one we are seeing again on the occasion of the very successful documentary by your colleagues Mr Varvitsiotis and Mr Dendrinou.
Commenting on some of Alexis Tsipras’ proposals, he said: “There are no patriotic taxes. We believe in tax cuts and tax abolitions. So, I think, representing the government that has reduced or abolished 83 direct and indirect taxes and will continue to do so until the last day of this four-year term – hoping to continue to do so after the elections, if the people choose us again-we have every reason to look with great suspicion at a former prime minister who, when he had the opportunity, increased or imposed 30 taxes, or imposed 30 new taxes, or raised a total of 30 tax rates anyway. He is the prime minister who would have abolished the ENVIA and increased it and many other such ‘painful’ stories.”
Asked if the government is “comfortable” with Tsipras’ reappearance, Pavlos Marinakis said: “We have democracy and we are all judged by society, by the voters, by the citizens. But it is too much for the prime minister under whose watch the PPC “exploded” and if our government had not come to start a bailout process, the Greek taxpayer would have paid 6.5 billion – and fortunately we did it and now the value of the Greek government’s stake is more than twice as much as it was in 19, in a bankrupt PPC – to talk about the PPC. And much more it is provocative, not to us, but to the citizens, the prime minister who closed the banks, who imposed capital controls, who closed the stock exchange during his days, who gave loans to funds – note, it is not only the banks that were closed – established, instituted electronic auctions and weakened first home protection, to wag his finger at the government that took red loans from 45 percent of all loans and has brought them down to 3.5 percent, having over 65.000 settlements in the out-of-court mechanism.”
We don’t have Alexis Tsipras as a benchmark
He said, “For me, the second part of my answer is more important” and clarified what the ND government did. “We don’t have Alexis Tsipras as a benchmark. I wish we had such a low bar. But every government is judged by the moment it took office and what was in place in a country at the time and what it has done so far. Greece in 19, when Kyriakos Mitsotakis was elected, was not an economic paradise. But in comparison, Mr Eugenides, from 19 to today, I agree, it has obviously not been a paradise and we still have a lot to do. But notice, in ’19, when we came to power, Greece was the 27th country in Europe out of 27 in terms of growth. 600,000 people who have a job today had no job then. Investment has increased by 95% and yes, wages are still low, but I think it’s much better a country that has a minimum wage of 920 from 650 and an average wage of 1,530 from 1,100 euros.”
PASOK has moved to the field of populism
When asked to comment on Panagiotis Doudoni’s statement that A. Tsipras is a more convenient opponent and PASOK’s stance, Pavlos Marinakis said: “I don’t think that this statement by Mr. Doudoni and generally what we hear from PASOK has nothing to do with reality. We are playing on a different field from Mr Tsipras, the one of self-criticism, accountability, positive speech and results, and whether this satisfies the citizens will judge for themselves. PASOK chose to “move”, under Mr. Androulak, to the field on which Mr. Tsipras has been playing for many years, that of populism, slogans and parochialism. There is a heightened anxiety in PASOK at the moment and I understand that, because usually when you play away, the home team has an advantage.”
He said that PASOK , along with New Democracy, was the victim of this rhetoric and this policy of Syriza. “Suddenly he decided to talk to the perpetrators of that era. PASOK held a congress about a month ago. The only thing they had a big deal about was deciding that they would not co-govern with New Democracy, as if such an issue was ever raised by us. No such issue was ever raised. And they didn’t say, first of all, who they were going to co-govern with, and they didn’t say how, with what program. They decided to exclude only the “evil” New Republic. So, as one turns, one will sleep.”
Let’s bow our heads, complete our work
Commenting on the polls and on how ND can come closer to its goal of achieving self-reliance, Pavlos Marinakis said: “The only way is with more and more deliverables to the citizens, more and more faithful implementation of the program for which we were elected and, of course – because the people vote, first of all, on whether you were, you proved yourself consistent in what you did, but also on what you want to do and how convincing you are – and on how cost-effective your program is for the next four years.”
“We have to put our heads down, complete our work, we set the agenda based on the issues raised by society and not the opposition, and from there, the people will evaluate everything and decide,” he added.
As for the protest vote, Pavlos Marinakis said that “we have a duty to address and we are addressing all citizens. We serve the whole of society, like any government, and when we forget that, then we are obviously making one of the biggest mistakes a government can make. From there, as you can see, the goal is to get the highest possible percentage, to keep playing on the “field” of positive discourse and policy making.”
We have seen the protest parties in power
“I understand the dissatisfaction of some of our fellow citizens on some issues, first and foremost being accuracy, namely the increased cost of living, but I think the difference between 2026 and, for that matter, 2027, when and if the next general election is held, is that we have experienced governance as a country as a result of a protest vote. We saw the protest parties in power. And I think they created a lot more problems than they solved and I think they didn’t solve any problems. The only good that these parties did for the country when they came to power is that there is now a benchmark,” he concluded.
