The 25% election target set for New Democracy, which the prime minister mentioned in his latest interview, was the subject of a question to government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis at a briefing for political correspondents.
“All the polls put New Democracy at somewhere between 30% and 31% in voting estimates. It is reasonable to set a target — difficult, but entirely achievable — of a new government with an outright majority. At the end of the day, the voters will decide. If we convince them with our record and our programme, we can reach 5-6-7 points more”, he said.
“The prime minister was asked about the 25% and answered not by opening up an issue, but by closing it. As he has shown, he is not clinging to office. The aim is for the country to have a stable government that can move it forward. We are the last people who can be accused of setting an unrealistic target”, he added.
“If we do not achieve it, that is for the voters to decide. The country must have a government the day after the election. But since we rule out a coalition with any far-right party or populist party of the left — including PASOK under Mr Androulakis, which has moved onto the populists’ turf — we cannot point to any political force with which we could form a coalition. We are no longer talking about a PASOK that, despite whatever differences we had, under Fofi Gennimata or Venizelos showed institutional seriousness that we do not see now”, Mr Marinakis added.
The government spokesman also denied a report that French and Turkish lawyers were negotiating over the electricity interconnector between Greece and Cyprus.
“There is no such issue. Greece’s sovereign rights are non-negotiable, and the electricity interconnector will go ahead under the licensing terms set by the Greek state, as provided for under international law”, he said.
Fiscal rules
He also referred to the European Union’s new fiscal rules and the spending limits member states are required to observe.
“The opposition may be ignoring it or pretending not to remember, but Europe has new fiscal rules”, he said, explaining that specific spending ceilings are in place, beyond which no government can introduce new measures unless it adopts equivalent permanent offsetting measures.
He said the government would continue to support society through whatever measures fiscal room allows, and announced that details of support for heating oil and other assistance would be unveiled on Wednesday.
He said the emergency support launched in the spring complements the emergency and permanent measures already announced, several of which are being implemented in 2026.
On developments in the war in Ukraine, he said:
“Fifty-two years after the invasion of Cyprus, Greece could not turn a blind eye to what happened in Ukraine. Neither Europe nor Greece could have taken a different position in principle. Any decisions were taken at European level. Any effort towards de-escalation or a ceasefire is a step in the right direction”.
On the dispute between PASOK and ELAS over an article by Thanasis Karteros about Nikos Androulakis, Mr Marinakis said:
“When there is a lack of proposals and costed alternatives, there is an excess of insults and clashes, rather than political debate. It is not our job to say who is right and who is wrong; it looks like a war zone. PASOK should reflect on what it did when it took the decision — its only decision — at its congress not to form a coalition government with New Democracy, as if we had even raised the issue”.
Asked about PASOK’s claims that recent remarks by Yannis Bratakos on excise duty on fuel undermine the government’s narrative, he replied:
“His interview was anything but an attempt to oppose the government. Let us not forget that he represents businesses and is obliged to raise all the issues, which clearly exist, and we acknowledge that. But between the opposition’s blanket condemnation and saying that everything has been resolved, there is a middle ground”.
Finally, commenting on the move by Vassilis Kokkalis to ELAS, he said:
“It has symbolic significance: ANEL, SYRIZA, ELAS. It brings to mind the kind of government Mr Tsipras chose to form when he was SYRIZA leader”.