Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras, speaking in parliament on Wednesday, charged Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of wanting to gather votes from the Far-Right.
The opposition leader suggested that the manner, the timing and the arguments accompanying the amendment tabled by the government to block former Golden Dawn member Ilias Kassidiaris from forming a party revealed that its desire to jointly raise a barrier with others against the presence and action of the offspring of Nazism and fascism was not, in fact, very strong.
Tsipras commented that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was not “historically illiterate” and that his actions were a result of the fact that “his problem, quite simply, is not to exclude neo-Nazis and fascist formations or to put a halt to the extreme right and nationalist populism”, but to “pick up the votes of the far right and the nationalists”.
He also accused the government of “allowing the criminal Nazis to engage in political campaigns from prison unhindered for the last two years”.
Tsipras began his speech by expressing his party’s sincere and deep condolences for the loss of ND deputy Manousos Voloudakis to the MP’s family and New Democracy.
On Tuesday, Tsipras accused Mitsotakis of paying no due attention to the issues of Armed Forces staff over the nearly four years of his tenure.
The main opposition leader was addressing a plenary debate on a bill titled “Provision in favor of Armed Forces personnel, streamlining of Armed Forces legislation, organization of the National Guard and other provisions,” and unrelated amendments attached as riders, including an exclusion of neo-Nazis sentenced for crimes from electoral ballots.
Tsipras asserted that Mitsotakis “places the Armed Forces and relevant national affairs in the arena of micro-political exploitation,” and charged that the bill does not resolve critical issues but is only brought forward now for pre-electoral campaign purposes.
The government “has not given a single euro to the men and women who handle our weapons,” he underlined.
He then reiterated the wiretapping issue, holding the government and the prime minister responsible for the alleged tracking of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (HNDSG) Chief, General Konstantinos Floros.
Responding to criticism about Syriza rejecting previous defence budget legislations, Tsipras noted that his party voted in favor of procuring both the Belharra frigates and the 18 Rafale fighter jets.
The only procurement Syriza did not approve was the one about the additional 6 Rafales, as they were “not accompanied by the appropriate recommendations of the relevant armed forces committees.”
Finally, Tsipras called yet again on prime minister Mitsotakis to take part in a live televised debate, which “you have been avoiding for seven years,” he added.
To that effect, Tsipras said he is ready for “any such live comparison of policies and the relevant face-off.”
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