The New Democracy led government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, managed to pass its 2020 State Budget in parliament by a majority roll-call vote on Wednesday night, at the end of a five-day debate.
In the 300-seats chamber, 158 MPs voted in favour whilst 139 MPs rejected it, with former Prime Minister, SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras accusing the State Budget of foreseeing "nothing good for the many, for health policy and for education, for the welfare state, the middle class, while on the contrary it pre-calculates tax cuts and subsidies for the elite.”
In response to Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "You, Mr. Tsipras, destroyed Greek businesses," and that the Marxist economic approach of the former Finance Minister, Euclid Tsakalotos is an exception in budget approaches, as business tax reductions are linked to development.
Mitsotakis added that the first draft budget of the independent government of New Democracy (ND), that of fiscal year 2020, "does not contain surprises and fireworks - it reflects in numbers the policies for which we received the trust of the Greek people” he said during a debate in the plenary on Wednesday night.
Addressing his predecessor in government, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, the ND leader told him he is still at the anger stage and hopes Tsipras soon reaches the stage of accepting his electoral loss.
Reviewing his government's achievements since elections in July 2019, including measures supporting businesses and households with tax reductions and large-scale investments, Mitsotakis noted, "It's not coincidental that Greece can now borrow with negative interest rates or that the latest European Commission report is more positive," he said, "citizens are more optimistic."
The 2020 state budget has two key features, he noted "it combines social care with development - and this corrects older injustices and opens the way to investments and new jobs."