“The country and its citizens need clear horizons and despite those who have been spreading scenarios to the contrary, the national elections will be held at the end of the four-year term, as I had committed to from the beginning. They will take place on Sunday 21 May.
With this quote, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced during his introductory statement to the Council of Ministers the date of the elections and essentially declared the beginning of the election period.
The Prime Minister stressed that the New Democracy's motto will be «we are moving forward together, changing Greece, more uncompromisingly and more boldly» and clarified that if a second round is needed “to cancel the adventure of the simple proportional representation”, it will take place by the beginning of July at the latest.
Note that the Sundays in early July are on 2 and 9 July.
Mitsotakis pointed out that “a self-reliant ND means a strong Greece” and described the framework within which the ND, its MPs and its executives should move. He briefly mentioned the main aspects of the government's work, calling for its communication promotion, as well as the observance of the ND's key commitments, and noted:
“We should all remember the great strides the country has made over these four years. Not only because consistency of words and deeds ultimately builds the trust of citizens, but because our important work proves that Greece can change. Sometimes not as quickly as we would like, but it is changing. Dear colleagues, indeed, for four years now, it is worth reminding ourselves at every opportunity that despite great difficulties we have kept all our central election commitments.
We have reduced taxes and contributions, we have supported and sustained average incomes, we now have an economy that is growing at almost twice the eurozone average. Remember, we were the tail end of growth in 2019.”.
Addressing indirectly all the members of the Southwest, he stressed that “we have a continuous duty to expose the trap of the simple proportional representation, explaining that the first ballot will decide who will govern, while the second ballot will decide how to govern. And stressing that in a highly volatile world the country needs stable leadership, so citizens need to know who they are voting for as Prime Minister.’.
Mitsotakis encouraged the Southwest's executives to use examples from other European countries which, he said, have entered into a cycle of instability, precisely because they have the simple proportional representation electoral system, which very often leads, indeed, to ungovernability.
“There will be elections in neighbouring Bulgaria on Sunday. It is the fifth election, I repeat, the fifth election in two years. Our Bulgarian friends are unable to form any government, victims of the simple proportional representation and the inability to reach agreement between the parties. I wonder if this is what we need in our country today. Therefore, an independent New Democracy means a strong Greece,” Mitsotakis said.
Finally, the Prime Minister clarified that the Parliament will function normally and bills that have been debated will be promoted without last-minute amendments.
Concluding his statement, the Prime Minister said that the citizens will judge two different terms of office: in the economy, in society, in defence, in foreign policy, in the international representation of the country, while they will judge the readiness and the ability to manage crises, while he expressed the conviction that they will judge “sincerity, political sensitivity and continuous effort”. He concluded: “Thus, with responsibility and maturity, the citizens, the sovereign Greek people, will weigh and decide. I am sure that they will decide correctly”.
The Prime Minister's statement to the Council of Ministers:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Our meeting today, for those who do not know, completes a cycle of 50 regular Cabinet meetings since the summer of 2019. A project that is reflected in 402 laws, approved by the Council of Ministers, passed by Parliament, covering the full range of public policy, from shielding National Defence and dealing with immigration, to permanent relief from dozens of taxes and a pension increase after 12 years. And from digital progress and the upgrading of education and health care, to the new minimum wage, which I recall has risen from 650 euros to 780 euros.
These are initiatives, as you know, which have been implemented while we have managed successive crises. The pandemic, the challenges from our neighbours in the Aegean, the attempted migrant invasion, most recently the energy «boom», the imported precision from the war in Ukraine, a series of natural disasters, developments in which, however, the state has managed to erect a series of strong «dikes».
Let me remind you that we have now almost zeroed out the increases in electricity prices, we now have the sixth lowest inflation in Europe, and the emergency income support will continue as long as the threat of international price inflation persists. And, of course, the painful traumatic experience of the Tempi has highlighted the shortcomings that our state still has. Islands of anachronism that resist collective progress, alongside irresponsible attitudes that undermine it. The overthrow of all this thus becomes a clear priority for the next day.
The country and its citizens need clear horizons and, despite those who have been spreading scenarios to the contrary, the national elections will be held at the end of the four-year term, as I had committed to from the beginning. They will take place on Sunday 21 May. If a second round is needed to cancel the adventure of the proportional representation system, it will take place by the beginning of July at the latest.
This is a programming that is fully consistent with the constitutional deadlines, but at the same time takes into account a series of serious events in social and economic life, such as the national examinations and the start of the tourist season.
In the meantime, however, our work continues. Certainly it has not lacked mistakes. We are here to correct them. And I would say that our motto from now on is: «we move forward together, changing Greece, more uncompromisingly and more boldly».
But for that to happen, we all need to remember the great strides the country has made over these four years. Not only because consistency of words and deeds ultimately builds the trust of citizens, but because our important work proves that Greece can change. Sometimes not as quickly as we would like, but it is changing.
Dear colleagues, indeed, for four years now, it is worth reminding ourselves on every occasion that despite the great difficulties we have kept all our central election commitments.
We have reduced taxes and contributions, we have supported and sustained average incomes, we now have an economy that is growing at almost twice the eurozone average. Remember, we were the tail end of growth in 2019.
We have made a commitment and we have acted on it that we will bring in a lot of foreign investment, that we will create jobs. We have created 300,000 jobs. We have brought down unemployment by 6 percentage points. We have strengthened health and education. We have recruited 25,000 permanent education staff. Our national defense has been shielded as never before. While we have also tackled immigration. Let me remind you of the situation we inherited when we came into office in July 2019.
All this in a new digital state, which, however, needs a new operating structure, not only with higher salaries but also with continuous evaluation. And this will be the next national bet. In fact, already today we will discuss rewarding efficiency in the public sector and faster appointments through the new single competition of the ASEP, I remind you after two years of a paid probationary period.
We will, of course, have the opportunity to talk about this in the coming weeks. For now I have only two comments to make. The first concerns our duties. We continue to serve our mission as Ministers of all Greeks. While in Parliament we will be promoting bills that have been debated without last-minute amendments, as was once the case.
The second thing I want to stress is the truth of our public discourse. Because only with it can we finally respond to the poison of our opponents’ lies. We must present our important work with conviction, but without exaggeration, feeling, listening, trying, acknowledging the mistakes where they have been made, but not undoing the important effort we have achieved over the years, so that Greece in 2023 will be in a much better position than Greece in 2019.
At the same time, we have a continuing duty to expose the ungovernability trap of proportional representation, explaining that the first ballot will decide who will govern, while the second ballot will decide how to govern. And stressing that in a highly unstable world the country needs stable leadership, so citizens need to know who they are voting for as Prime Minister.
I would encourage you to use examples from other European countries which have been in a cycle of instability, precisely because they have a proportional representation electoral system, which very often leads, indeed, to ungovernability. In neighbouring Bulgaria there will be elections on Sunday. It is the fifth election, I repeat, the fifth election in two years.
Our Bulgarian friends are unable to form any government, victims of the simple proportional representation and the inability to reach agreement between the parties. I wonder if this is what we need in our country today.
Therefore, a self-reliant New Democracy means a strong Greece. A prerequisite for us to have a more efficient state, with better wages for all, decent, better health care in better hospitals, affordable housing especially for our young people. In the elections on 21 May, Greeks will ultimately choose whether the country will continue to challenge and win the bet of modernisation. It has become clear how difficult this is. And it will be decided by two different terms of office in the economy, in society, in defence, in foreign policy, in the international representation of the country. Still, they will judge the readiness and the ability to manage crises, but they will also judge - I believe - honesty, political sensitivity and sustained effort.
Thus, with responsibility and maturity, the citizens, the sovereign Greek people, will weigh and decide. I am sure they will decide correctly.
