N. Androulakis: There is no end to the miseries of the parastatal staff

During his interview with the journalist Pavlos Tsimas, on the SKAI 100.3 radio station, the President of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, reported on the attitude and responsibilities of the Prime Minister:

“If I were Mr. Mitsotakis and I had no responsibility, you know what I would do? If something happened in my country and I was prime minister, I would apologize and do everything I could to catch whoever is operating the Predator in Greece. What says the EYP? We don’t have it. Mr. Economou says that since the story with the journalist Koukakis happened, the EYP does not have it. Let it be that the EYP does not have it. Shouldn’t they find out who has the Predator in Greece and who syncs with the EYP? Here we are talking about a staff parastatal which does what? Not only did he monitor, but he goes on to create a perception of normality of monitoring through the SYRIZA period and the argument “they did it too“. Those who did them should be brought to justice either the SYRIZA co-government with Mr. Kammenos or the government of Mr. Mitsotakis. We don’t want to cover anyone up for this and we voted for an inquiry committee that also includes the issue of the KKE, which has been complaining about surveillance since 2016. We do not bargain with democracy and the rule of law“.

He highlighted the government’s contradictions and lies about his reluctance to be informed by the Government about the case of his surveillance by the EYP, underlining that “we have one more point of authoritarian perception from the government: To present the victim as an abuser. “Why does he not come to inform him ?” It’s shocking. I tell the Greek people frankly that no competent agency has ever asked to inform me officially. The only thing that has happened is a message on my mobile phone before the EYP Commander was dismissed. Mr. Dimitriadis had resigned in the morning because he could not stand the toxicity and quite by chance the Commander of the EYP also resigned and they want to show us that the events are unrelated. We are talking about amateur propaganda here. Between these two events, Mr. Gerapetritis sends me a message and says “if you want, Mr. President, contact me”. any update we want, will be official.

I will go to the European Court of Human Rights. In fact, Mr. Mitsotakis also advises me to do so. Will do it. I don’t need advice, I have legal support. And of course we will go and do the legal thing regarding the Governor of the EYP, Mr. Kontoleon. Just a message from Mr. Gerapetritis, who has too much audacity and also sticks out his tongue in Parliament. He appeared on SKAI yesterday and said: “but I don’t know anything”. The man who called me to inform me, officially comes out and tells the Greek people that he knows nothing. So what would he tell me? I do not accept either my personal mockery or the mockery of 11 million Greeks. I want an official update. Clear sky lightning is not afraid. Officially. And as for their claim that the Prime Minister cannot because it is illegal. So I should illegalize so that Mr. Mitsotakis does not illegalize, but what do you say? I gave an institutional outlet. ADAE, the Independent Authority which, if PASOK had not established it, we would never have learned that I was being monitored by the EYP”.

Referring to the Government’s leaks about the involvement of third countries and the resounding denials they received, Mr. Androulakis launched a fierce attack. “Embassies humiliate them. New leaks from yesterday, that I – say – have a relationship with “Erdoganites” in Thrace. Does Mr. Mitsotakis and Maximou speak well of Turkey’s issues to me? To the protagonist in order for the European Parliament to make a decision to stop Europe selling weapons to Turkey; To me who has been invited as a speaker at two HDP conferences? Where did I do everything I could to get Dermitage out of prison? To me who went to the Syrian border in 2020 to avoid jailing a Metropolitan who the Erdogan regime wanted to condemn as a PKK collaborator? We know each other very well in this place. I have fought for human rights in Turkey, I have fought so that Erdogan does not fight the way he fights the Kurds. And since I don’t raise a fly on my sword I will also act legally at this level because the New Democracy in this case shows the true face of a right-wing authoritarian perception and this perception they know very well that the democratic faction will take all the initiatives and will crush it because it damages democracy“.

Regarding yesterday’s intervention by the European People’s Party so that Mr. Androulakis was not invited together with the journalist Th. Koukakis to the hearing before the competent committee of the European Parliament on the use of the Predator software in Greece, but instead to be invited to a future meeting with Catalans MEPs, noted: “What has ND been saying for so long? That the wiretapping is legal because there was a national danger. In fact, two ND MPs tried to compare me to the Catalan separatists. Soon they will tell me that I am organizing the autonomy of Crete! (…) Whatever the ND does to bury the issue with false dilemmas, with interventions in Brussels or here, I want to send a simple message to Mr. Mitsotakis that the best thing for him to do is instead of advising me on how I will take legal action – I have very good lawyers to inform him – I advise him not to put obstacles in the way for the country to acquire the institutions and legislation and shield itself from the use of these softwares”

Commenting on the political environment that has been created, Mr. Androulakis noted: “States have institutions. And the “Mitsotakis or chaos” dilemmas to sell them where they buy them. I personally don’t buy them. Kostas Simitis has said something. Each Prime Minister is voted by the Greek people and is a tenant of Maximos. He does not own Maximus. So they will learn to behave as tenants and not as owners, blackmailing the Greek people and violating any sense of public interest, reason and of course the rule of law” he pointed out, adding: “The country will not remain ungoverned. I am fighting for our faction to be strong and from the first Sunday to have stability, a government and not Tsipras-Mitsotakis blackmail”.

Afterwards, the president of PASOK – Movement for Change said that “Mr. Tsipras uses this morbid case to wash away the responsibilities of a disastrous government, the one with Mr. Kammenos and various others, who starred in the violation of human rights. Which put divisive dilemmas on the Greek people like “Mitsotakis or Chaos”“.

When asked about the alleged “SYRIZA-PASOK front” according to the ND’s claims, Mr. Androulakis characteristically replied: “It is identical to the Tsipras story a month ago. And I want to say to the SYRIZA voters: The president of SYRIZA was the one who he used to say what Mr. Mitsotakis is saying today. “You vote for PASOK and you get New Democracy” and now Mr. Mitsotakis is saying the same thing. I also want to tell them that they were deceived by Mr. Tsipras, because what does this case prove That not only was I not the willing partner of Mr. Mitsotakis, I was the main target of the Mitsotakis government. So let’s stop the fairy tales. The democratic faction has an autonomous course. We are three other parties. They are SYRIZA, New Democracy and PASOK, with their historical origins, with their ideological differences and with another human potential. Would I accept Polaki-type behavior in my party? Would I accept in my party, as the leader of the faction, to co-govern with Kammenos? Would I accept behavior like that of Mr. Georgiadis and all of them? Of Mr. Voridis, who mentioned yesterday that I am responsible for the name of the EYP? In other words, they were watching me and they made a mess of it and all the media and all the countries are laughing at the Mitsotakis government, which says one thing and another, and I am responsible for being watched,” he added.

Regarding the time of the elections, the President of PASOK-Movement of Change emphasized that the whole truth about the case must have been revealed beforehand.

He addressed the country’s democratic world by pointing out that “this case shows all centrist, democratic voters of all parties that ultimately Tsipras-Kammenos practices are almost the same as Mitsotakis practices. Not the Greek people deserve that the government should be reduced from the management of the state of Tsipras’s crony to the management of the state of his nephew Mitsotakis. The Greek people deserve a better government that will respect them. We will have a mature Democracy and not a Democracy, which is unfortunately languishing with all that has happened in recent years. Democracy goes together with prosperity. There is no dilemma between Democracy and prosperity. That’s why what Mr. Georgiadis said, which says “poverty and the mobile phone”, is grossly authoritarian and far-right. What do you say; And we want democracy and we want prosperity“.