The president of PASOK – Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, in an article in the newspaper “Ta Nea,” argues that the country is experiencing a period of intense social inequality and a crisis of confidence in institutions, attributing responsibility to the New Democracy party’s seven-year rule.
Mr. Androulakis addresses issues such as inflation, housing costs, the state of public health and education, as well as the difficulties faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and the younger generation. At the same time, he strongly criticizes the government for its management of the Recovery Fund, the OPEKEPE case, and the wiretapping scandal, citing attempts to cover up these issues and undermine the rule of law.
The PASOK president emphasizes that true stability cannot be based on impunity or the discrediting of institutions and argues that the country needs political change led by PASOK in order to restore meritocracy, accountability, and social justice.
Mr. Androulakis’s article:
“In the modern political history of the country, democracy and social justice have never been two separate paths. At every major moment of struggle for the Greek people, these paths have converged. From September 3, 1843, and the demand for a Constitution, to the generation of “1-1-4” and the struggle for democratic normality, the fundamental issue has remained the same throughout history: that there must be limits to the arbitrariness of power.
Because without democracy and a strong rule of law, there is no social justice. And without social justice, democratic institutions are emptied of their substance. This message remains more relevant than ever.
Today in our country, there is a deep sense of injustice and inequality. Citizens see it when access to opportunities depends more on connections and influence than on merit and hard work.
They see it in their own daily lives, made difficult by inflation, high rents, and the deterioration of public health and education.
They see it when small and medium-sized businesses struggle to survive in a market where oligopolies have incomparably greater access to political power and financing.
When the younger generation feels that their efforts are not enough to build a life with job security and prospects.
And when society loses its trust in democratic institutions, then mistrust spreads everywhere: in the economy, in politics.
That is why the rule of law is not an abstract or theoretical concept. On the contrary, it is the citizen’s certainty that they are protected against arbitrariness and that they do not live in a state where the powerful enjoy more privileges and greater immunity.
During the New Democracy government’s seven years in power, a succession of scandals and serious blows to the rule of law have damaged the credibility of politics in the eyes of the public.
In the management of Recovery Fund resources and, more broadly, of European funds, where there is a lack of transparency, meritocracy, and targeted utilization, resulting in the country missing out on opportunities while certain cronies benefit scandalously.
In the OPEKEPE scandal, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office’s case files regarding illegal agricultural subsidies revealed a “blue system” of patronage and political protection that operated for years at the expense of the public interest and honest producers.
In the illegal wiretapping scandal, where they even tampered with matters of national security without those responsible having yet been held accountable. When Mr. Mitsotakis does not care who set a trap for the leaders of the Armed Forces, no further argument is needed because he is unfit to be Prime Minister.
In all of the above cases, society watches in shock as the parliamentary majority engages in a cynical cover-up, not hesitating to exploit the institutional functioning of Parliament to erect a wall of impunity around government officials who were involved.
Most alarming, however, is that the Prime Minister is attempting to present these institutional deviations as necessary compromises in the name of so-called “stability.”
As if it is now considered normal for direct awards to be the rule rather than the exception.
As if it were acceptable for major scandals to remain shrouded in impunity.
As if society must resign itself to the discrediting of institutions, solely to avoid disrupting the political dominance of New Democracy.
All of this is unacceptable for a modern European state governed by the rule of law.
They are not worthy of our country.
They are not worthy of its citizens.
Not in our name.
Not in the name of a society suffocating under inequalities.
Not in the name of people who see their paychecks run out before the month is over.
Not in the name of the younger generation forced to seek opportunities abroad.
Not in the name of citizens who demand security, dignity, and justice.
We must not allow the dead ends, the decay, and the cynicism of the Mitsotakis system to become dead ends for the Greek people and the country.
Because true stability cannot be built on impunity or tolerance of decline. There can be no strong country without strong institutions. There can be no sustainable growth without justice. And there is no true democratic stability when society feels that truth, meritocracy, and the rule of law are yielding to political expediency.
True stability is built only on trust. When citizens know that power is held in check, that institutions operate independently, and that no one is above accountability. When they feel that the state acts in the public interest and not in the interest of opaque power structures.
That is why, today, the country needs political change with PASOK at the forefront.
Not just a simple change of faces or a different way of managing the same decline.
But a change in the culture of governance, a change in priorities, and a change of course for the country.
This battle cannot be fought by self-appointed “saviors,” nor by unreliable and morally bankrupt systems of power that reproduce the same pathologies.
It can only be fought together with society.
The struggle for the rule of law is not an ideological luxury.
It is a battle for everyday life, for wages, for the cost of living, for the opportunities of the younger generation, and for the quality of our democracy.
It is, ultimately, a battle for our own lives.”