The government has moved into an operation of political and communicative persuasion for the package of measures announced by Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the TIF, knowing from the outset that the announcements could not satisfy all social and professional groups.
At the Maximos Mansion they did not hide that the needs of citizens are much greater than the capabilities of the economy. The message now being sent is that the “purse” opens with fairness and as much as fiscal capabilities allow, without a return to a logic of handouts without substance.
“The needs of citizens are always greater than the capabilities of governments,” was the prime minister’s characteristic remark from Thessaloniki, while also stating that he has “a clear conscience” about the way in which he protected the country fiscally.
This is precisely the element the government is trying to highlight in the face of criticism about the amount or targeting of the measures. Criticism, not only at an individual level, but also from representatives of bodies (GSEVEE, EVEA, Athens Chamber of Professionals, etc.).
The government’s argument follows the line that the Greece of 2026 is not the Greece of 2019, but at the same time it has not turned into... Switzerland, so that it can satisfy every request.
“They are right to ask for more, but we are giving as much extra as our economy can bear and the European rules allow,” government sources note, pointing out that the main way to address the consequences of high prices is the increase of incomes.
In the government staff, moreover, they believe that the real picture of the measures will begin to take shape when they move from announcements to implementation. When taxpayers, employees, pensioners, self-employed professionals and families begin to see in practice the strengthening of their incomes, they estimate that the assessment of the package will be clearly more positive.
A bidding war of promises
At the same time, the Maximos Mansion is trying to make it clear that it does not intend to follow the opposition in a “bidding war” of promises. The government line is that ND wants to appear as the responsible force of the political system, which is not carried away by pre-election sirens, “promising everything to everyone.”
“We leave that to the opposition, which knows how to do it well,” is the message characteristically being sent by competent sources, who insist that benefits must have real fiscal backing.
At this time in Greece, Adonis Georgiadis estimated in an interview (to ANT1), “we have the most astonishing period of prosperity, of the last decades, in Europe. All the countries of Europe are in recession, all the countries of Europe are making spending cuts and only one country is giving benefits, that of Mitsotakis.
We have a country that has a stable government, is moving forward, with difficulties, but moving forward. We must not be carried away into a collective demand for things that cannot exist. Because that will put our country back into bankruptcy. That is how we got burned the last time as well”, the Minister of Health stressed.
The next critical step will be the legislating of the measures. The relevant bill is expected to be put up for consultation at the end of September or at the beginning of October and will include the entirety of the TIF announcements, as well as certain additions and “final touches,” so that a unified and applicable framework may be formed, positively accepted by society.
There, moreover, the next battle will also be fought for the government: in the citizen’s everyday life.