Debate KINAL: Collaborations and … PASOK in the spotlight

LAST UPDATE: 00.16

The debate of the five candidates for the leadership of the Movement for Change turned into a telematch for five, as George Papandreou disagreed with the model, the terms and the content of the telematch and abstained from the process.

The rest of the candidates crossed their swords in view of the first round of the internal party elections on December 5, with the main points between them being exchanged in soft tones, but with specific pressing questions.

Andreas Loverdos persistently asked his fellow candidates if they agree or disagree with the Prespa Agreement and if they consider it a model for a possible solution of Greek-Turkish issues, while in the answer of Nikos Androulakis that if elected in parliament he is the one who will represent him – if he is a Member of Parliament will have its own political direction, Mr. Loverdos reacted by saying that it is not in anyone’s discretion to appoint a leader.

All the candidate leaders harshly criticized the Government and the Pandemic.

Regarding the post-election collaborations, Nikos Androulakis separated the leadership of SYRIZA from the progressive citizens and the Left, clarifying that he will address this public but not his leadership, which he earlier described as demagogic.

Andreas Loverdos spoke about the goal of bilateral enlargement, reiterating that he does not include SYRIZA in the progressive space, rhetorically asking if it is progressive for your partner to accuse you of buying the deputies from him.

Pavlos Geroulanos appeared open in the collaborations, however, setting as a criterion the program agreement and not the exchange of “chairs”.

For his part, Haris Kastanidis referred to neoliberalism and pointed out the need for the modern social democracy to “correct” the market.

“The free market and the way it has worked has created huge inequalities,” said Pavlos Christidis, noting that only PASOK can correct them.

Candidates’ positions:

N. Androulakis:

– Shyness in the government for the pandemic and demagoguery by the opposition. You need consistency and responsibility. Human life above any political cost.

-The refugee – immigrant eis a major issue for the whole EU. Those who turned their backs on us in Evros, The Right Europe, Mr Mitsotakis’ allies, are undermining the Dublin revision. I condemn all forms of racism but I am a realist.

– The person who will represent my point of view in Parliament if I am elected will obviously have the support of me and the entire parliamentary group.

– We can make alliances with the world of the Left. But the world of the Left is different, the leadership that disappointed him is different. We are not talking to this leadership.

– They said that social democracy was dead. Now with the pandemic they saw the need for public policies.

-We have to keep the many positives of the change of government. Significant political mistakes made mainly by the ND were paid for by the whole country. Small and medium-sized enterprises can not be judged only on market terms when in other countries they are motivated to become more resilient. The same goes for public education, it must be supported

P. Geroulanos:

– I have always been in favor of collaborations but we must understand that collaborations must be done on the basis of what the country needs, not to exchange chairs and that is what I will pursue.

– For ten years the EU has been discussing Greece leaving due to deficits. And there has been no discussion as to why Hungary and Poland, which violate human rights, remain.

– Socialism is a vision. We are the party that can make Greek women and men stand on their own two feet.

– I am in favor of evaluation. The employees in my company feel safe because the rules apply to everyone. When the politician comes and tells you I will evaluate you or the first fair answer you will get is “and who evaluates you?”. But the criteria must first be set by the leaders.

Ch. Kastanidis:

-Neoliberal ideas have a gap. We must restore social democratic principles that insist on solidarity and market regulation. the modern Greek social democracy will seek to correct the markets.

– Post-election collaborations other than conciliation. National reconciliation in national crises is essential.

– There will be no government that will say about the Greek-Turkish in the opposition “let’s go to The Hague in general and indefinitely”. We can only go to The Hague for EEZ / Continental Shelf. We must restore the defensive dogma of An. Papandreou.

– There are important reforms that PASOK made depending on the season. I do not choose periods.

-Novartis is obviously a scandal. Justice says so. But there is also a political side: Two successive governments have used methods that violated criminal rules.

East Loverdos:

– I blame the government for delays and reluctance to pandemic. The government has not withdrawn from the market the cheap rapid tests that ultimately do not detect the virus. The government is timid. We talk to everyone in parliament about the pandemic because it concerns us all.

– Withdraw cheap rapid tests. Let the ministry finally tell us where they die, in which hospitals more people.

– I am a patriot and the patriot is neither young nor modern. I am a patriot. Yes, I am against the Prespa agreement and I do not agree with Mr. Mitsotakis on the European perspective of Northern Macedonia.

– The government brought what we were asking for: Stricter sentences for heinous crimes and my party, he said “present”. I have promised that if elected I will change our positions on civil protection issues. A few days ago I had the opportunity to prove it. I am always with PASOK. There are people and issues for which there will be no issue of party discipline. I will be completely logical: No party discipline for people like former prime ministers, former leaders of our party.

P. Christidis:

-ND and SYRIZA had to turn their backs on the financial crisis. This is bothering us even now. We need a different strategy for our country, with unity.

– How does a citizen feel when the Parliament closes with a case and in a class half the students need to get sick? This is absurd and has the signature of Mr. Mitsotakis.

– We have to look at the positive side of what is happening on social networks. The vast majority of those who supported me are from social networks. We have to deal with the issue of both fake news and false news. This poison needs more education and more democracy

– The free market and the way it has worked has created huge inequalities. We need to find how social policies will balance inequalities. Only our party can do that.