Galery

2

1

Prior to the elections, George Papandreou did not provide the public with information in the form of figures as regards the state of the Greek economy. The Prime Minister at that time, Costas Karamanlis, was speaking about freezing wages and pensions to prepare society for the fact that strict measures would be necessary to avoid subordination of the country to foreign centres of power. People voted for PASOK because the party had promised everything to everyone, but then it did the opposite. During the first seven months, it paralyzed the administration and the market; it did not implement measures that could lead to a flow of funds; it refused to take money from the markets. It is said that the government could borrow € 54.3 billion only from European banks, but there are publications in the press indicating other available sources too. However, the government has deliberately chosen to put the country under the control of the International Monetary Fund. The second big mistake of George Papandreou is that he has set excessive goals and proposed or adopted a wrong policy mix in order to convince our European partners and our lenders who have rushed to defend Greece in order to save the Euro zone. All this has been done without explaining the specifics, weaknesses and problems of the Greek economy and society. Thus, the government has preferred to attack people in the middle and low income bracket with a hurricane of unprecedented taxes in the absence of a specific plan to follow. It has left the market with no funds, closed thousands of small and medium firms, unemployment has risen from 8 to 18 and even more per cent while no increase in revenue has been achieved. I would say that what it achieved was just the opposite, i.e. stabilization and reduction in revenue, without cutting unnecessary costs in the public sector and establishing dynamic development. To the contrary – it brought about the highest rates of recession that have been attained in Greece in recent decades.

What is New Democracy’s position regarding the expected haircut on Greek debt? Do you think that it could have been avoided?

At European level, we reached the agreement of July 21, which gave some hope, but at that time we were talking about only a 21 per cent haircut. It seemed then that Greek banks were likely to survive at this rate. The current discussions are not held before the society and I am afraid to say that they do not take place even before the Greek government. Our leader Antonis Samaras has accused George Papandreou of being absent from the negotiating table at which the future of the Greek economy is decided. I do not think that the Greek Prime Minister has any influence over the plan, which is coordinated by Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel. This is very bad, because after its adoption, the Greek government will have to implement a policy that does not take into account its opinion and the resilience of the Greek society and the Greek market. I hope, and wish, that European decisions will be compatible with the Greek reality.

Lately, there have been talks within PASOK about holding a referendum. What is New Democracy’s opinion about such a possibility? 

To me this signifies that because they are unable to provide a solution, they are trying to divert public attention and through this trick, prevent it from expressing its will in an electoral race. I do not know how useful it could be to hold today a referendum prepared in advance.