Regarding the economy, scenarios of early elections<\/b>, the possibility of a party<\/b> being founded by Samaras <\/b>and the party Tsipras <\/b>was discussed by Maximos Charakopoulos<\/b> on Realfm 97.8.<\/p>\n
The Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Group of New Democracy<\/b>, referring to the state of the economy<\/b>, prompted in part by the front page of the Journalists\u2019 Newspaper, titled \u201c7+1 Signs of Internal Bankruptcy,\u201d stated:\u00a0\u201cI think this is a very distorted interpretation of the reality we are experiencing. I won\u2019t claim that there are no problems, but the mere fact that a decade ago, the country\u2019s finance minister was the scapegoat in the Eurogroup, and today the Greek finance minister is the president of the Eurogroup, shows just how far the country has come in terms of economic progress. The fact that other countries are entering procedures for budget deficits and supervision, while Greece has emerged from such procedures, also attests to the truth of the statement that we are on the right track. I won\u2019t even mention where the minimum wage used to be and where it stands today, nor will I mention that the country\u2019s purchasing power is at 80% of that of the average European citizen\u2014 that is, ahead of six other countries, and that it has more than doubled its growth rate.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThis certainly does not mean that there are no problems. Efforts are certainly being made to address the problem of high prices, which is real, inflation<\/strong>, which, however, is largely the result of external crises\u2014initially the war in Ukraine and now in the Middle East. We hope that the agreement the U.S. appears to be finalizing with Iran will lead to a significant decline in energy prices, which have a major impact on inflation in our country as well. Beyond that, there are no magic solutions. In the past, when we were led astray by promises of magic solutions, we paid a very high price. We are now also witnessing the reappearance of Mr. Tsipras, with a different political vehicle, because the party through which he entered politics and came to power has been irreparably damaged\u2026\u201d<\/em> Mr. Charakopoulos emphasized.<\/p>\n When asked whether New Democracy\u2019s main opponent in the elections is Mr. Tsipras\u2019s ELAS<\/strong>, he said:\u00a0\u201cIn the polls<\/strong> that are being published, it appears that his party is coming in second. Obviously, PASOK will have to engage in some self-criticism, but that\u2019s not an issue that concerns us. What is worth noting is the fact that Mr. Tsipras truly has a talent for communication, because he left SYRIZA with 17% of the vote after the last elections in 2023, and is now returning as something new and promising, following the so-called rebranding, and in the polls he is below the percentages with which he left as a failed leader.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Regarding the new faces appearing to represent ELAS and the proposals they have put forward, he said, among other things:\u00a0\u201cHe obviously doesn\u2019t want to be identified with figures from SYRIZA\u2019s leadership team, whom he had sidelined, but the real issue goes beyond who is speaking and what they\u2019re saying. Has anything changed in his political rhetoric or in the proposals he\u2019s putting forward? We\u2019re hearing an auction of free benefits, such as free tickets. It\u2019s somewhat reminiscent of the \u201cI won\u2019t pay\u201d slogan\u2014and you saw the result.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hearing talk of taxing dividends<\/b>. Let me remind you that the Mitsotakis government, which reduced or abolished 83 taxes, also reduced the dividend tax and ultimately succeeded in doubling revenue compared to the previous dividend tax regime. As we head toward the elections, we\u2019ll hear a lot. \u00a0It is significant that, for the first time in an election, it is possible to cost-estimate the parties\u2019 campaign platforms. Under a law we passed in 2023, parties can submit their pre-election platforms to the independent fiscal council for cost estimation. \u201cIt remains to be seen how many and which parties will do so,\u201d<\/em> added Mr. Charakopoulos.<\/p>\n Regarding the proposal by a senior Hellenic Police official to tax 1,500 high-income taxpayers<\/strong>, he stated: \u201cWe\u2019ve heard a lot. As they say in my homeland of Thessaly, \u2018He who has been burned by porridge blows on the yogurt, too.\u2019 That is precisely why, regardless of what Mr. Tsipras and his officials say, it is important for this to be costed and verified by an independent fiscal council. In other words, let\u2019s see if what they\u2019re presenting as potential revenue is actually accurate. I gave you an example earlier regarding the taxation of dividends. By reducing the tax on dividends, we doubled tax revenue. The question is also what message Mr. Tsipras\u2019s policy will send.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe country has managed to double its growth rate compared to the European average by attracting investment. If he intimidates the business community, who will come to invest in the country? More prudence is needed. In the coming period, let\u2019s wait and see if there will be a comprehensive economic proposal. In any case, as we head toward the Thessaloniki International Fair, where the government presents its economic policy for the coming fiscal year, and opposition parties typically present ideas and proposals, \u201cmost of which are not costed\u201d<\/em>, added the Secretary-General of the New Democracy Parliamentary Group.<\/p>\n As he said, the New Democracy\u2019s goal is to increase incomes through wage hikes.\u00a0\u201cUnder the Mitsotakis government, you saw wage increases and tax cuts, which meant an overall increase in income. If you factor in inflation over the past seven years along with the wage increases and tax cuts, you\u2019ll see that there\u2019s a net gain in real incomes,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>he emphasized, while, although he acknowledged that the purchasing power of Greeks is low, he noted that it is \u201cat a better level than what the official opposition wants to portray.\u201d \u201cWe have a long way to go, but there are no magic solutions. This government has managed to achieve stability, and that is an intangible asset we must not lose. To continue attracting investment, there needs to be stability within the country,\u201d<\/em> he argued.<\/p>\n Regarding the timing of the elections<\/b>\u2014that is, whether he himself favors holding the election in the fall or in the spring\u2014 he emphasized: \u201cMitsotakis has proven that he possesses institutional responsibility. The elections should take place at the end of the four-year term, and I think this is also a different message\u2014one that this Prime Minister and this government are demonstrating\u2014that they respect the institutions, do not use them, and do not exploit them for political gain. Although I am absolutely convinced that next spring\u2014as the Prime Minister himself has said\u2014we will have elections, and the political environment will be better for the country, stability will have taken hold, and the economic results will be even better.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThere is fiscal space of 1 billion, perhaps even more, at the Thessaloniki International Fair to announce measures to further support the middle class and our most vulnerable citizens, to further reduce taxes, and to boost incomes. \u201cSo we still have nearly a year ahead of us to fully implement our government\u2019s program,\u201d<\/em> said Mr. Charakopoulos.<\/p>\n Finally, when asked whether New Democracy is concerned about the possibility of Antonis Samaras founding a party<\/b>, prompted by reports indicating that he appears to be polling in the double digits in certain prefectures of the Peloponnese, he commented:\u00a0\u201cThe gap between opinion polls for parties that haven\u2019t yet emerged and reality is quite large. We\u2019ve seen this with parties that, in the end, didn\u2019t appear at the polls at all. I, too, have read the related news reports that there will be a Samaras party. I hope there won\u2019t be one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n He maintained that bridges with Antonis Samaras<\/b> \u201cdid exist, but the issue is whether there is a willingness on the other side as well,\u201d while adding:\u00a0 \u201cAfter a tumultuous political journey, following the fall of Konstantinos Mitsotakis\u2019s government and the political wilderness that Antonis Samaras himself traversed, he was given a second chance and truly became a good Prime Minister with New Democracy. I believe that, for the sake of his own political legacy, it would not be right for him to go ahead and form a new party; when wounds are opened, it takes a long time for them to heal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn 2012, Antonis Samaras was the leader of New Democracy and was running for Prime Minister. It was announced that his former close associate, Sympilidis, would be joining the party\u2019s electoral lists, and a few days later, under the weight of the New Democracy base\u2019s outrage, the withdrawal of his candidacy was announced. Well, when wounds are opened, they take a long time to heal. I hope no new wounds are opened,\u201d<\/em> Mr. Charakopoulos concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maximos spoke about the economy, the possibility of early elections, the prospect of Samaras forming a new party, and Tsipras\u2019s party…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What he said about Tsipras and ELAS<\/h3>\n
The timing of the elections<\/h3>\n
Scenarios for a Samaras Party<\/h3>\n