Speech by Thodoris Dritsas, Member of Parliament for Piraeus & Islands - Minister of National Defence of the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, during the debate in the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives on the motion of no-confidence against the Government, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Coalition of the Radical Left, Mr. Alexis Tsipras and 87 Members of his Parliamentary Group, in accordance with Rule 84 of the Constitution and Rule 142 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament.
Thank you very much, Mr President.
No, Mr. Economou, in Greece we don't have a dictatorship. The Greek people have fought for many years so that we do not have a dictatorship and we have this democracy that we have and that the Greek people defend, as do all the democratic parties in Parliament, but we have a government that does not defend this democracy, but instead undermines it, and this is very worrying and today's issue is part of that.
You have presented a Prime Minister of reduced accountability. He didn't know! All of Greece knows, all the parties know, all the Independent Authorities know, everyone knows, and the Prime Minister does not know! It is not the first time, it is an element of Greek history, both past and present. The Right, when it is in a very difficult situation, escapes. It has done it before in critical historical periods, it has done it recently with Samaras, it has done it on many other occasions.
Will the Government and the governing majority finally understand that the exercise of the Opposition's right to table a motion of no confidence is an element of democracy and whatever your opinion is, whether it is, as Mr Papadimitriou said, a tactical step or I don't know what else, it is irrelevant. It does not matter what the motive is. Are you going to hold a trial of intent?;
The Official Opposition and President Alexis Tsipras today submitted a motion of no confidence on a specific issue. That is, for the violation of Article 19, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Constitution and the relevant Law 3115/2003 and all the legislation governing the protection of the confidentiality and absolute inviolability of communications, and you are throwing the ball into the ring. And with Mr Gerapetritis's amusing phrase that guilty is guilty, the Parliamentary Representative of PASOK-KINAL, Mr Kastanidis, explained it very well before and insists on the simplistic interpretation that Mr Gerapetritis seems to be giving, that you are guilty and we are guilty, well, in any case we cannot, let us acquit ourselves.
And the Government does not dare to turn, as governments often do, the motion of no confidence into a motion of confidence, where, Mr President, the presence and the parade of all these Ministers would be justified. For this kind of motion of censure, it is not justified, even if it is within the Rules of Procedure. What has he got to contribute apart from the Minister of Justice - yes - the representative of the Government now, Mr Economou - yes - Mr Gerapetritis - yes - and one or two others? What does the Minister of Health have to contribute on this issue, except if he wants to speak as a Member of Parliament?;
This is the reality and we are coming to a strained justice in the sense that bravo, you gave us a gift, as Mr. Mitsotakis said «the motion of impeachment is welcome» - jokes, but it is not, it is the line - but we will not respond to anything, we will downplay it as if it is an issue that does not exist and that SYRIZA discovers, and so do all the constitutionalists - no one has a contrary opinion - and so do all the parties, well, never mind, the sovereignty of the Government cannot be questioned. From the Government comes the doctrine of the authoritative interpretation of everything. Well, of course not, that's not democracy, that's undermining democracy. And so, what do we have? The Government and the governing majority changing the agenda one by one, so that this particular issue is not debated.
Ladies and gentlemen of Parliament, you do not have the right to do this, neither the Government nor Mr Mitsotakis, nor anyone else. You have admitted, at least in the case of Mr Androulakis, that there was legal monitoring that should not have taken place, and all this time you have been saying «bring us evidence, you have no evidence».
Article 19, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Constitution enshrines, it is not a text with multiple interpretations, it is so clear, it is the common agreement of parties, citizens, everyone, that no one has the right to monitor anyone. No one, except with two explicitly defined exceptions: National security and the investigation of serious crimes. And what does the Constitution do? It does not provide that the judiciary will judge these things; the judiciary has to do its job with respect to criminal liability that may arise either for political figures or for any other citizen who breaks the law. It establishes and sets up an independent authority, constitutionally established, to check precisely whether these two exceptions are scrupulously respected and whether the inviolability of communications is absolutely guaranteed for all citizens, political figures, military personnel, journalists, whoever, and that is why it puts all the clauses in place. And the Independent Authority has not the right, but the obligation under the Constitution - Mr Castanides said this - to check in all ways, without taking permission from anyone, and the findings of the check, on the basis of your law and the previous law 3115/2003, to notify the Parliament, the Committee on Institutions and Transparency, to notify the leaders of the parties and from there, where necessary, to the judiciary.
This is what Mr Rammos did as an obligation, not just a right, and instead of supporting him, you go and get him out of SYRIZA and Mr Hionidis told us before not to undermine the independent authorities, the constitutionally guaranteed ones.
Do you understand how hypocritical you are and how deliberately hypocritical Mr Mitsotakis is?;
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Finish up, Mr Dritsas. You have exceeded your time. Close.
THEODOROS DRITSA: I will conclude.
What is the ultimate proof that Mr Mitsotakis is exactly the leader of all this parastatal planning that undermines democracy and threatens it and that is exactly how all social rights are threatened? Because a people cannot escape poverty if they are not supported by a democratic state. So what is Mr Mitsotakis doing there? While he has undertaken...
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Mr. Dritsas, hang up.
THEODOROS DRITSA: I'm just finishing, Mr President.
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Hang up, because we're too late.
THEODOROS DRITSA: I finished with this sentence. Please!
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Do you know how many are yet to speak? Hang up!
THEODOROS DRITSA: Shouldn't I add this?;
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Closed, completed. You can see that you're down to nine and a half minutes.
THEODOROS DRITSA: Show some sensitivity, Mr President. Please, Parliament is...
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Close, Mr. Dritsas. I beg you. Please respect the next colleagues.
THEODOROS DRITSA: You're president...
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): I'm president, obviously!
THEODOROS DRITSA: You are not a teacher, you are not a referee. Please! I'm hanging up.
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): No, there is no question of a request.
THEODOROS DRITSA: I'm hanging up. I said, last sentence.
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Say the last sentence.
THEODOROS DRITSA: Let me tell it, then!
Mr Mitsotakis is violating the Constitution and the law by entrusting Mr Dimitriadis to be informed about the issues of the National Intelligence Service.For this alone, Mr Mitsotakis, who has been sworn in, who has taken over as Prime Minister, is accountable. Mr Demetriades has no authority, not even a lifetime obligation of silence, as all the others involved have.
PRESIDENT (Athanasios Bouras): Mr. Dritsas, hang up. It's not possible, you've gone over ten minutes! This is not right at all.
THEODOROS DRITSA: And for that alone, Mr Mitsotakis is guilty.
Thank you.
