R. Svigkou: It is the choice of the government not to take measures for accuracy

“Society and the economy can no longer stand it. Citizens are faced with even more difficult situations every day, due to accuracy and inflation,” said the secretary of the CoE. of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, Rania Svigkou, in an interview with the First Program of ERA.

He also stressed that “the purchasing power of workers is constantly declining”, while “even this small increase in the minimum wage is disappearing due to the huge accuracy and insufficient financial support measures which are not enough to make up for the losses”.

“We have the most expensive fuel price in relation to income, the highest inflation in Western Europe, while we are the only country in the European Union where the basic salary is lower compared to 2010,” said Ms. Svigkou, emphasizing that at the same time “The government is turning a deaf ear to all the proposals we have tabled, while it has also ignored the Commission’s toolbox, which for months has provided for specific measures.”

Afterwards, Rania Svigkou referred to a series of specific, costed proposals and amendments submitted by SYRIZA-PS, such as “raising the minimum wage to 800 euros, setting a ceiling on the wholesale price of electricity, taxing the companies’ super profits reduction of excise duty on fuels, and VAT on basic foodstuffs “. These are measures that “have shown in practice, since their implementation in other European countries, that they can work very well for both the citizens and the economy itself”, citing the recent example of Germany. In addition, he stressed that “there must be an end to power outages in vulnerable households, to regulate and write off a significant part of the private debt created during the pandemic.”

The government’s refusal to implement such measures, Rania Svigkou stressed, “is a matter of neoliberal choices, not a matter of opportunities. Because the Mitsotakis government supports the few, the business and financial interests that support it. The reduction of excise duty in fuel, it costs 1.5 billion, as much as it costs the government’s choice to privatize supplementary insurance “.

Rania Svigou then referred to the escalation of tensions in Greek-Turkish, for which the Erdogan government is responsible. “Defending the sovereignty and sovereign rights of Greece is non-negotiable,” he said, adding that “its strategy should not surprise us. Turkey has a plan, it is not isolated, as the government has been claiming for months. That is why “We have been pointing out for a long time the need for the government to acquire a strategy with a beginning, middle and end in Greek-Turkish relations. For a year and a half now, we have been emphasizing the need for a structured national strategy.” As in the case of the war in Ukraine, Rania Svigkou continued, “the Greek government has chosen the strategy of the faithful and given ally. statements and actions “.

SYRIZA-PS has submitted specific proposals, reminded Rania Svigkou. “Alexis Tsipras has long spoken of the need to link the review of the EU-Turkey Customs Union with the appeal in The Hague, because Turkey must be pressured to stop provocative actions and sit at the table of dialogue, to pressed towards a recession dialogue.

Today, “the Greek government should demand that any European guarantees given to Sweden and Finland, during the transition period until the accession of these countries to NATO, be given to both Greece and Cyprus.”

Elections are a social necessity, underlined Rania Svigkou. The program of SYRIZA-PS, “which will be announced by the president at the TIF in September, will respond to social needs, but will also upgrade the country’s position in the international environment. And most importantly, it will protect the citizens, who this “They are experiencing despair at the moment, as bills and commodity prices are constantly rising and their income is constantly falling,” Rania Svigkou concluded.

Source: AMPE