“After 8 years there are people who have become tiring, but at this moment there is no alternative”, said Dora Bakoyannis, speaking on Tuesday morning on the radio station of SKAI.
The New Democracy MP also looked back at the political scene before 2010, when, as she said, there was alternation between PASOK and New Democracy, a fact that ensured continuity in governance. As she mentioned, the handover of a ministry was then made to a person who, generally speaking, knew the subject matter and could continue the work of his predecessor.
According to her, what followed was an intense political fragmentation, a phenomenon that does not concern only Greece but is also observed in other European countries. This development, as she said, has led to broader dissatisfaction and rejection toward the political system. “I don't like this one”, she noted characteristically.
“However, someone has to govern”, Ms. Bakoyannis stressed, underlining that, under today's conditions, the existence of a stable government takes on particular importance.
“At this moment, with the tremendous insecurity and this geopolitical environment, having a stable government is everything”, she said, adding that “everything is political in this life” and that it is of particular importance who is called upon to manage the country's future.
As she stated, if there were a different credible political proposal or another political leader who could constitute an alternative, then the data would be different. “If there were an alternative proposal, if there were another one, we would see it, however the comparison will be between Mitsotakis and Androulakis, between Mitsotakis and Tsipras, who tells us that he will open the Strait of Hormuz”.
She argued that New Democracy believes that, in this specific juncture, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is managing the situation better compared with those two specific political leaders.
“We sincerely believe that at this stage Mitsotakis is doing a better job than the other two”, she said, while also acknowledging that the prime minister has “many flaws”.
One of these, as she said, is that “he means what he says”. At the same time, she criticized the opposition, arguing that it is asking the government to proceed with benefits that exceed the country's fiscal capabilities. “The opposition is asking him to give everything, to open the wallet and give more than the country can bear”, she said, adding that, in her view, the government is being asked to take risks for the country.
“Ignorance is forgivable, deliberate misinformation is not”
In a strong tone, Dora Bakoyannis also referred to the public discussion surrounding fiscal margins and payment limits.
“When we talk about illiteracy, people do not know, okay, ignorance is forgivable. What is not forgivable is deliberate misinformation”, she said, arguing that both Nikos Androulakis and Alexis Tsipras know what the payment limit is.
Ms. Bakoyannis, however, also criticized the interior of the government, speaking of phenomena of arrogance among ministers.
“I see arrogance in Mitsotakis's ministers and I would say they should get off their high horse. We have such phenomena too and they should be cut out immediately”, she said characteristically.