The government spokesperson, Pavlos Marinakis, was asked about Triantopoulos being referred to the Special Court during the briefing of political reporters:
«It is an intermediate stage, the trial of the case by the Special Court is now imminent. The government respects every decision at every stage, we are not like those who accept court decisions à la carte. It is a development, the result of Mr. Triantopoulos's courageous stance in asking to be judged by his natural judge. At the time PASOK was talking about an exculpatory indictment by the government. We believe in his innocence, we will neither try him there nor acquit him, justice will issue the decisions. It is a habit in this country, when a case begins, for it to fill the front pages and for us to have one announcement after another. But when some are acquitted, any acquittals are single-column items and the parties say nothing. As for what happened and what his responsibilities were, everything we have said up to now remains fully valid».
In response to a question about PASOK's claim that the government copied its proposal on private debt, Mr. Marinakis commented: «Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day. PASOK has entered into a logic of promising everything, it has proposed whatever might sound pleasant without costing, justification, and logical sequence. The government continues a policy that gives relief to citizens, PASOK's proposal lumps together the consistent ones with those who want to enter into a settlement. It is one thing to follow a balanced policy that primarily respects those who are consistent and gives tools to those who want to be consistent, it is another thing what PASOK says, whatever people would like to hear but without actually costing it».
Regarding the prime minister's intervention yesterday at the cabinet meeting and the possibility of a reshuffle to replace those who do not comply with his instructions, the government spokesperson stressed:
«I have absolutely no information, briefing, or sense of a reshuffle. It is of course the prime minister's exclusive prerogative, there is no such thing on the radar. The prime minister sent a clear message overall to all those who hold public office, we are all judged by the citizens. Our judge is the prime minister and the party leader, our job is to project the government's work with the right tone and the strength of our arguments. What the prime minister said is not a message with a specific recipient».
On the opposition's demand for the resignation of the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, Mr. Marinakis said:
«There is no issue with Mr. Floridis, in reality the opposition is trying to confuse two different discussions. One thing is the investigation being carried out by justice into what did and did not happen in the management of the site at Tempi, another thing is this whole scene that was set up in Greece and flared up 1.5 years ago, the notorious bulldozing with the aim of covering up an illegal cargo. Mr. Floridis was referring to this vulgar narrative of the opposition. There is an unprecedented instrumentalization of a tragic accident. What the judicial ruling mentions has nothing to do with this fairy tale that the opposition and some media were trying to sell to the public».
Regarding the new voices from Turkey about the electricity interconnection cable between Greece and Cyprus, the government spokesperson stated: «There is no issue of a permit, the project will proceed normally according to the schedule».
He also kept his distance from Angelos Syrigos, who argued that Greece backed down in both incidents in Kasos: «There was no retreat whatsoever in relation to the survey and the laying of the cable. These are Mr. Syrigos's personal assessments without taking certain data into account. Greece, Cyprus, France and the EU support the project».