The Minister of State, Akis Skertsos, called on the opposition not to try to inflate an issue that is of minor importance, on the occasion of the criticism of the Tsiodra-Lytra study.
“Whether we knew the study or not is irrelevant, we did not know it. I assure you that the government receives dozens of relevant suggestions and statistics, studies them all and evaluates them all. Do not try to inflate an issue that is of minor importance “, said Mr. Skertsos, responding to the intervention of the parliamentary representative of the Movement for Change, Nadia Giannakopoulou, who asked to know which of those in charge took, and when, the study in his hands.
Government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou was clear yesterday, Mr. Skertsos said, noting that “there has been a lot of noise about a study that does not bring anything new.” The government “has repeatedly taken a stand on these issues, has taken initiatives, has designed and implemented policies that strengthen the health system, and are trying to cure, precisely these problems,” said Mr. Sketsratsos and continued: What are the problems that does the study identify? (1) that when the Health System receives a greater burden it is more difficult to meet the requirements and (2) that there are inequalities at regional level in the NSS. “Both issues have been raised to the highest level, long before the study was prepared by the Prime Minister himself,” Mr. Skertsos said.
Therefore, the Minister of State concluded, whether we knew the study or not is irrelevant. We did not know her. I assure you that the government receives dozens of relevant suggestions and statistics, studies them all and evaluates them all. Do not try to inflate an issue that is of minor importance, Mr. Skertsos stressed.
Asked by Ms. Giannakopoulou about the unvaccinated police officers, Mr. Skertsos said that “the government has shown that it is not afraid of obligation. On the contrary, it is one of the first European countries to implement the obligation in the field of health and in the special population group. “These are the criteria. These are health and not political criteria,” said the Minister of State.
For the deletion of Kouroumbli: For Mr. Polakis Al. Tsipras is not doing anything
Earlier, in his speech on the budget, Mr. Skertsos had referred to yesterday’s speech of the independent – now – MP P. Kouroumbli: I heard horrible things yesterday, from this step, to the MPs of the coalition, who reminded of other times, he said Mr. Skertsos. I am glad that there was an immediate reaction from the leader of the official opposition, but it is fragmentary and therefore incomplete, because the same and heavier characterizations are reserved on a daily basis for the government, and other executives, such as Mr. Polakis, but there does not do anything (Mr. Tsipras) said the Minister of State.
I hope, said Mr. Skertsos, that the president of SYRIZA will reconsider and correct his attitude, because “we all remember, and we must never forget, that the same toxicity, the same division, the same symmetry I accuse, were transferred ten years ago , from inside the Parliament, in Syntagma Square, to then infect the entire territory “.
Commenting on previous speeches by members of the official opposition, Mr. Skertsos said that it is strange for a country that until a few years ago was a black sheep internationally and now systematically receives praise – not from the domestic media – but from abroad, from European organizations. , foreign governments, major international investors, for its performance in the economy, employment, digitization, the green transition but also the overall management of the pandemic, “at home the opposition should do what it can to tarnish this good international image and to reserve to it only and exclusively the blame, the leveling, the toxicity “.
There is, he noted, a great, almost unbridgeable cognitive discrepancy between the reality that the rest of the world now sees for us, the reality experienced by the citizens themselves who -despite the adversities- see if nothing else a government that fights every day, that tries to change decades of ignorance, and the reality that is outlined within Parliament.
And that should concern us. It bothers me. I wonder if this difference in perception of reality, this intensity of criticism ultimately contributes to the credibility of politics as a whole and its ability to address citizens in a convincing way. And I conclude that no.
I am obviously not claiming that the opposition should praise the government. That would be against her role. However, it should be taken into account that Greece is today among the top three European countries that have noted:
– higher employment growth,
– greater economic recovery,
– the most significant absorption of Community funds,
– having at the same time kept the losses due to covid below the European average from the beginning of the pandemic until today, to be, if nothing else, a more moderate opposition. And more constructive.
Addressing the seats of the official opposition, he asked:
– How do you justify the 8 consecutive positive evaluations of our country by our partners in the framework of the enhanced surveillance program for the reforms and the economic policy pursued?
– How do you respond to the solemn approval by the European Commission of both our national plan “Greece 2.0” for the recovery and resilience fund and the next NSRF for the programming period 2021-2027, which secured 80 billion euros?
– How much sharper would your criticism be, that is, if instead of these discriminations, we were last in all economic indicators in Europe?
Yes, we have a lot of room to get better, to improve. Nor do we have a set to admit mistakes and correct them. The exact opposite is true, especially for this government that listens and corrects. “But this will not happen by saying no to everything and becoming a saboteur of the national effort, denying the reality that the rest of the world sees except you,” said Mr. Skertsos.
The Minister of State then stated the 12 reasons why he is optimistic that Greece is changing for all, for the good of all citizens, and has before it a future full of opportunities and prospects.
What is an indicator of progress for all of us?
1. an indicator of progress is the 500 million Digital certificates issued electronically this year thanks to the 1300 new digital services of gov.gr making the life of all of us easier. What does this mean in practice? Thanks to the digital leap we have made over the past two years, every citizen has saved an average of 50 visits to public services, saving valuable time for his work, his family and what he loves to do in his spare time.
2. An indicator of progress is the increase of employment to 4.1 million employees and the decrease of unemployment by 3.2 points. 11-year-old record. The safest way out of poverty and inequality with the ultimate goal of freedom, prosperity, dignity and real equality is investment and jobs. Not over-taxation or state benefits.
3. An indicator of progress is the fact that our country has for the first time a national strategy for gender equality and the empowerment of women in the family and work, a policy for young people, a strategy for the rights of the LGBTQI community, a policy for abuse children, but also a new framework for pets. There is no collective prosperity when we systematically ignore the fact that entire groups of citizens do not yet have the same opportunities and the same rights as the rest. There is no culture in our daily lives when we do not take care of the well-being of dominant and stray pets.
4. An indicator of progress is the increase of the average disposable income of each household 4 times above the increase of inflation, especially now with the international wave of price increase. We have calculated that thanks to the policy of targeted tax cuts, insurance contributions, excise duties on energy and mobile telephony, each household has saved from 365 to 1615 euros per year. We are thus proving that the economy can enter a virtuous cycle that will fuel healthy and sustainable development without over-taxing citizens’ incomes.
5. An indicator of progress is the increase of 21% of private investments in the two years, to finally fill the large investment gap left behind by the ten-year crisis. But also that all the big strategic investments that were stuck for years, have now started, from the Greek to Kassiopi, and big companies have trusted our country such as Pfizer or Microsoft.
6. An indicator of progress is the reduction of carbon emissions by 16 million tons and the decision to withdraw polluting lignite from our energy mix by 2025. The abolition of disposable plastics. The commitment to reduce overfishing in the Greek seas. We owe it to our children to deliver a better and more sustainable natural environment.
7. An indicator of progress is that all major urban transport projects, line 4 in Athens, the Thessaloniki metro, and road connections such as the BOAK or the Patras-Pyrgos network, have been dismantled to reduce regional and inter-urban inequalities and to remove isolating entire areas and populations. An indicator of solidarity is also the doubling of city buses and the reduction of the ticket.
8. An indicator of progress is the universal ban on smoking indoors, the investment in public health with the introduction of free preventive examinations for long-term diseases, the digital vaccination campaign that re-introduced to all citizens the Greek state, the digital envelope of ICUs.
9. An indicator of progress is our systematic investment in public education with the operation of two-year pre-school education throughout the country, the introduction of foreign languages ​​and skills workshops in primary and primary education, the appointment for the first time after 12 years of 16,200 permanent teachers in general education and special education, the 166 new curricula, the 112 new standards and experimental schools but also the EPAL standards.
10. An indicator of progress is the increase of industrial production by 6.3%, the export of products by 15%, and the doubling of public and private investments in innovation in the last two years. The internationalization of our economy and the return to extroversion, processing and innovation leads to a more sustainable future for all of us and motivates young people who have left in the past to return to our country.
11. An indicator of progress is the strengthening of the sense of security in the neighborhoods, especially in the less privileged areas, with 1,500 new special guards and 1000 additional police officers on foot patrols. But also the strengthening of accountability against police arbitrariness with the pilot use of cameras in police operations.
12.Finally, an indicator of progress and humanity is the reduction by 67% of the migration flows in our islands in the first ten months of 2021, the complete registration and relocation of 1063 unaccompanied minor refugees in European countries, the rapid granting of asylum to thousands of refugees living in miserable conditions until 2019. But also the shielding of our land and sea borders, our defense agreements with the USA and France, as well as the expansion of our territory, the growth of Greece, thanks to the agreements with Italy and Egypt for the delimitation of the EEZ.
We believe that Greece is a country with huge untapped potential, a blessed place to live, to work, to work, to invest, to travel. These goals are served by the political plan of this government and the 2022 budget that we are called, I invite you to vote, said in closing the Minister of State, Akis Skertsos.
Source: AMPE
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Source From: Capital
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