Greece’s main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis vehemently ruled out all prospects of cooperation with left-wing SYRIZA and the current Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, in an interview with Deutsche Welle published on Friday. Making it clear that there was “an abyss” separating Tsipras and himself politically, New Democracy’s leader said he would never agree to rule with Tsipras in a coalition government.
During the interview, which took place during Mitsotakis’ visit to Frankfurt on Wednesday, Mitsotakis also repeated his demand for early elections.
“The cost of a pre-election period will be much smaller than the benefit for Greece. The reply to populism is not more populism,” he said, though noting that he could not force elections.
He also pointed out that an ND-SYRIZA government would automatically make far-right Golden Dawn the country’s main opposition, with all that entailed.
ND’s leader also referred to the claims made by U.S. economist James Galbraith about a ‘Plan B’ drafted under former minister Yanis Varoufakis in the case that Greece left the euro, noting that this had the hallmarks of a coup and once again calling for an inquiry into the issue by Parliament.
The political cost of necessary measures
Talking about his programme for economic growth in Greece, Mitsotakis said he had proven that he was not a populist and was not afraid of the political cost of necessary measures. “We voted for a framework that will include structural changes that we support, not because this was imposed by the Germans or Brussels but because they are right for the country,” he said.
Expressing his disagreement with the government’s policies, ND’s leader pointed out that Greece had the highest taxation rates of most countries in Europe and that this overtaxation was not bringing in revenues but achieving the precise opposite. Not only were the high taxes crushing businesses and driving away investors, they were also pushing workers into the black economy and decimating tax compliance rates.
Mitsotakis noted the need to reduce the primary surplus target from 3.5 pct to 2 pct, combined with an agressive structural reforms programme that will “break the vicious cycle” for the Greek economy and privatisations to attract investors.
“I am building a climate of confidence. I want [our] European partners to know that they can have faith in me. I am not the kind of person that calls referendums and then changes no to yes. I want them to know that the next government will be a government that is permanently divorced from populism,” he added.
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