Mr. Zacharias: The government creates an environment for new memoranda

For an explosion of inequalities this year, due to the economic recession - which, for the record, he considers to be tougher than the era of the memoranda - he spoke of the Minister of Interior of SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance, Costas Zachariadis.

In an interview with the newspaper “BAM” (3/1/21) and in the Pantelis Perivolaris, the MP for the B1 northern sector of Athens, accuses the government of memorandum policy which has plunged the country into recession and unemployment, while accusing it of a «hollow narrative» about «isolated Turkey», which does not correspond to reality but aims to feed a «communication bubble», which cannot fix the bad timing in which the country has entered in dealing with the crisis with its neighbour.

Regarding the issue of elections, Mr. Zacharias said that this cannot be a priority at this time. SYRIZA, given that the priority is to address the health crisis, but predicted that the government's image will have a steady downward trend, which, in time, will be reflected in the polls.

Finally, as regards the Novartis scandal, the Minister of Interior of SYRIZA, stressed that the entire political world should support the justice system in its difficult work.

In detail, the interview of Mr. Zacharias:

We listened to the debate on the Budget in Parliament and we understood from the Government side that we will eat with golden spoons and from the opposition side we understood that we have to jump off the Acropolis. What is the situation, Mr Zacharias?;

- «Never mind what the government and the opposition say... Don't you see what the citizens are experiencing? Don't you see the everyday life of small and medium entrepreneurs? The downturn of the economy for 2020 will be deeper and harder than the recession we had in the hardest years of the memoranda. If you add to that the fact that we have been through the memorandum adventure then things really are a dead end for a large part of society. How would you describe this situation? The dramatic thing is that despite the objective difficulties, the country has to deal with the government's ideologies. So we are doing much worse than the European average in terms of recession, we will be much higher in terms of rising unemployment, we will have a much greater explosion of inequalities. The government is responding to recession, with recession, by creating an environment for new memoranda.»

Is the decision of the last Euro Summit on Greek-Turkish relations, which means that the sanctions on Turkey will go from March, a defeat?;

- «I don't want to say such expressions on such serious matters. It is a serious and important retreat. The December European Council text is behind the October text in terms of wording. The government not only does not make any self-criticism about the results of the European Council, but tries to create an artificial communication bubble with communication tricks and excuses.

Foreign policy, diplomacy and international relations are too serious issues for such gimmicks and experimentation. The country needs a new national strategy to defend our sovereign rights and to restart exploratory contacts with Ankara on the basis of international law. The Mitsotakis government and in foreign policy does not correctly assess, among other things, the dimension of time, which is shown by Turkey's miserable, provocative, unacceptable attitude that it is working against us.

Instead of investing in the dialogue between political forces within the country, the government is investing in a hollow narrative of an «isolated Turkey» which no one in the EU and the wider international environment believes.»

Mr Polakis says to ND «we will shoot you». Others talk about Special Courts for the management of the pandemic. What do you have to say?;

- «In parliamentary democracies, all political forces have the right and hope to claim the governance of the country. There are neither owners nor heirs of governance. SYRIZA Progressive Alliance claims to be the backbone of the next progressive government that will lead the country into the post-pandemic period.

No one from SYRIZA Progressive Alliance is talking about special courts. A health, economic and political reckoning will take place and it will be done rigorously. This is how democracies that are accountable to the citizens should function. Everyone will be judged, both the government for its decisions and the opposition for its attitude and counter-proposals. Society knows, sees, watches, judges.»

Is it time for SYRIZA to call for elections?;

- «This is a time of responsibility for all. Do you see any country in the world talking about elections? Do you see anywhere in Europe calling for or organizing early elections? I think we have entered into a very misguided debate. Our concern today is day by day the people who are losing their lives, the intubated who are fighting the battle, the economy that is being destroyed and wiped out. SYRIZA Progressive Alliance at this juncture is criticizing but also organizing a positive agenda of counter-proposals preparing its programmatic proposal that will respond to the great challenges we face as a country.

But you are right, early elections can be held, they can be held as a choice of Mitsotakis to escape. He's doing worse and worse everyday, how long can he afford to rely solely on communication when it is dramatically out of sync with reality. Democracy has no dead ends, and the progressive party and the left over time know that we are for the hard stuff.»

Why is there such a big difference in the polls between ND and Syriza. Are the polls «rigged»?;

- «No, the polls are not rigged, at least many of them are. The qualitative polling data over the course of these months show a clear and steady weakening of the government's image. As the situation deteriorates at all levels and the consequences of the South West's policies are reflected, the government's image will only get worse. Soon, sooner than many expect, alternative answers to the deadlocks produced and reproduced by the Mitsotakis government will begin to be sought. We are working to ensure that the answers are from the progressive spectrum.’

Venizelos said that in the Papandgelopoulos case, in the Novartis case, the «moral instigator, the moral instigator» must be found, apparently meaning Mr.Tsipras. What is your response?;

- «I think we should all re-read the Novartis out-of-court settlement in the US. The New Jersey court decision on the out-of-court settlement between the company and the US Securities and Exchange Commission is clear. The court fined the multinational $345 million for unfair practices in Greece, South Korea and Vietnam.

310 million relates to the company's practices in Greece. A huge international scandal with repercussions in the country. Such cases are a matter of justice and the whole of society expects the case to be brought to light. The country and the public health system have been damaged by certain choices in the health sector, and there is no doubt about that. The figures and the hole in the health debt speak for themselves.

If we really want to uncover every aspect of the scandal, if we want to put an end to the mismanagement and the disastrous consequences that certain policy choices have had on both health care and our economy as a whole, the judiciary must do its job and the political powers must contribute constructively to this.

As for your interpretation of Mr.Venizelos» statement, Tsipras has always been clear in Parliament on this issue. He is not afraid of anything or anyone."