2024-07-05 05:21:11
• The “blue” member of parliament comments on the criticism of Samaras-Karamanlis, the deletion of Avgenakis and the non-ministerialization of a member of parliament from the electoral district of Dodecanese in the recent reshuffle • “We cannot agree on everything with Mr. Samaras” • “The N.D . is the most powerful center-right party in Europe”
For the expulsion of Lefteris Avgenakis from the Parliamentary Group of the ND. after the incident a few days ago of his attack on an airline employee and the uproar that was caused, the turmoil caused within the “blue” faction by the criticism leveled at the government by the two former prime ministers, Antonis Samaras and less so by Kostas Karamanlis, in the recent reshuffle and the non-representation of a Dodecanese MP in the new government scheme, the dean and MP of Dodecanese, Vassilis Ypsilantis, spoke on “Kosmos” TV and Teris Hatziioannou’s show “Current Affairs”.
For the case of former minister L. Avgenakis. Personally, without agreeing with such practices, ND reacted immediately and Mr. Lefteris Avgenakis accepted his mistake and apologized. And politicians are human, to speak for myself, and they may overreact and be unacceptable. The event with Mr. Avgenakis has been included in a frame, he apologized and ND deleted him.
Mr. Ypsilantis attended the recent presentation of the book by the journalist Mr. Kottakis “The secret files of Karamanlis” (Libani Publications) at the War Museum, where the speakers were the two former Prime Ministers of the ND Antonis Samaras and Kostas Karamanlis. Asked to comment on the harsh attack on the government camp of the Messinian politician, but also of Mr. Karamanlis, he did not seem to share their views.
“I cannot comment on the opinions of former prime ministers. Personally, for 20 years now that I have been dealing with the public, I am loyal to the principles of ND, we support the people of ND, as we supported them even in difficult times. Not easily at this moment when the ND has great power and is a party that has five consecutive victories in elections, it has a majority in the Parliament, which has been years in the making and at the moment it governs the country with logic and actions that can improve the lives of our fellow citizens and of course with pride abroad.
The national issues are given and we all know the difficulty and the danger, which also exists in the context of International Law and the deterrent power of the country, we give those answers, which we all have to give together. Regarding the positions that are made, a criticism was made, we cannot agree on everything with Mr. Samaras. Neither us, nor him apparently. It is the right of Mr. Samaras. Mr. Karamanlis also touched on all these issues, but I repeat, the ND today makes some proposals that the majority of MPs support. I will not refer to the mess presented by SYRIZA, just as I will not deal with PASOK’s internal affairs, where almost everyone will be a candidate for the party’s president.
We must not forget that at this time the ND has a purely ideological orientation and we do not deviate from its declaration of 1974. From end to end it is permeated by a radical tendency of liberalism, which reaches from the right and ends up on the fringes of the left. This is our ideology, this is what we support and this is what we serve. The free economy, liberal ideas, in equality options, are ideological issues. ND is currently the most powerful center-right party in Europe, it is the party that today and for the first time in the EU. with Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis policies are indicated, we are the ones who will not forget the great challenges with the pandemic, economic crises, wars, where in all of these he was on the right side of history. With straight and clear policies, which make us proud.
The “blue” member of parliament was asked about the decision of Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis to change 4 ministers and half of the deputy ministers in the recent structural reshuffle, and if he thinks that there should have been a parliamentary representative of the Dodecanese in the new government structure, since Giannis Pappas was removed from Deputy Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy, commented mockingly that “quality and efficiency are needed for the place, for someone to be in the government scheme”.
In more detail, Mr. Ypsilantis stated: “Personally, all these years I have served our country with dignity and promoted the problems of the citizens. I consider my parliamentary capacity to be the highest honor. The issue of ministers is a matter of local and national constituencies. It is good to have government representation of the Dodecanese in the cabinet, but it should always adhere to some rules, have quality and efficiency for the place. If these points are not present, it is not necessary and obligatory to have representation. It is a privilege that only the prime minister has, he chooses.”
Regarding the return of the reduced VAT rates, which he raised the issue at the recent meeting of the ND Parliamentary Group, he argued that the ND started a fight with the EU. to find the return formula of these. Ecofin and the European Council have decided that the reduced VAT rates on the islands can be reinstated from 2025. However, there are many issues, such as fiscal ones, which should always concern a serious government when it makes such decisions,” he said.