Nikos Androulakis: 'What they advertise as economic overperformance is overperformance of high prices'

Nikos Androulakis, leader of the Greek political party PASOK, has sharply criticized the current government's economic policies. He argued that what the government promotes as economic "overperformance" is, in reality, an "overperformance of high prices," indicating that inflation is the true driver of perceived economic success.

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PASOK does not frighten, it creates political change and security and stability.

Speaking on ANT1's "Enopios Enopio" program, Androulakis stressed that meaningful political change in Greece cannot occur without a victory for PASOK. He questioned the feasibility of the ruling New Democracy party significantly increasing its vote share and suggested that both Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and opposition leader Alexis Tsipras have already faced political judgment from the electorate. Androulakis pointed to past issues such as closed banks, border disputes, and wiretapping scandals as reasons for this judgment.

Androulakis reiterated PASOK's commitment to broadening its appeal, referencing a party congress decision that welcomes anyone who believes in their program and fight for political change. He noted that members from other parties have already joined PASOK, and the party is reaching out to all voters, including those who previously voted for New Democracy but are now unhappy with the current political outcomes. He contrasted PASOK's approach with what he perceives as New Democracy's fear-based tactics, stating that PASOK does not intimidate voters and has a governing history that reassures centrist voters.

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What Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Pierrakakis are advertising as overperformance of the economy is overperformance of high prices.

Addressing the emergence of new political parties, Androulakis commented on the formation of parties like SYRIZA and a new party led by Ms. Karystianou. He stated that while parties serve specific needs, the argument for a lack of opposition is invalid, recalling a time when New Democracy secured a significant vote share while Tsipras was in opposition. He emphasized that Greece needs to be governed by parties with a concrete governmental program, not by "protest parties."

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We saw them: closed banks, the sea has no borders on one side, and then we had wiretapping, corruption.

Regarding the issue of high prices, Androulakis called for controls that extend beyond the final product price to encompass the entire supply chain. He accused the government of accumulating surpluses at the expense of the middle and lower classes. He also critiqued tax policies, such as a 5% dividend tax and limited deductibility for industrial investment, arguing that these incentives encourage profit distribution over reinvestment.

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Political change cannot come from protest parties.