If we are to believe the PM, there will be no early general elections anytime soon. But if we are to interpret his moves, he is campaigning like there's no tomorrow. In a much publicized speech on Greek growth, which was transmitted in all major TV networks, Antonis Samaras laid out his plan for growth recovery in the next seven years.
Speaking in the Benaki Museum amphitheater, the PM promised 770,000 new jobs until 2021, accusing opposition SYRIZA party that they preach a return to the dark says of the country's past. He talked about a “new Greece” (his latest slogan) full of competitiveness and investment, not the old one full of state employees.
“Why can't Greece have a Nokia of its own, just like Finland?”, the PM wondered, offering his vision of the country's future. “Growth will be at 2.9% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016”, he predicted, in spite of international pundits' claims that growth will be later than expected.
Tourism was at the forefront of development, he noted, as was energy and research and technology, that would contribute the most to the creation of jobs, as would investments by foreign companies in Greece.
"We reduced the debt and controlled interest rates without an intervening bankruptcy, with interest rates to be reduced further in the autumn. Greece has restored its credibility abroad," Samaras said, referring to Greece's renewed access to markets, adding that now "we are initiating a new Greece, of competitiveness, not of statism."
The main priorities of the plan he presented included the following: A reduction in unemployment, which will bring a rise in wages; a reduction in taxation in a way that would not affect the primary surplus adversely; a reduction in farming cost, to improve competitive ability; liquidity in business, with banks finding their own funding abroad; and promotion of reforms, including tax evasion and bureaucracy and the revision of the constitution to improve stability in the electoral system and limit the prime minister’s terms in office.
In his address, Samaras attacked main opposition SYRIZA, charging them with using the prospect of a new Greece as a campaign motto alone. “These are all the people who want instability…who for the past two years have voted down any reform attempt, every single article, who have no plan and who want to turn us back,” the premier said.
“The country is taking off. Greeks are being called to respond to the dilemma, next Sunday, of going ahead to growth or returning to the crisis,” Samaras said, referring to the double elections on May 25, for the second round of local government elections and Europarliamentary elections.
The PM premier included a review of the two years of his government and said it was the first time a modern and comprehensive national growth plan was being adopted, making special reference to energy and water resources.
It was obvious that Samaras was attempting to take control of the political agenda, ahead of Sunday's European parliamentary elections. His speech was full of promises (he calls it vision), the kind one would expect in an general election campaign speech. For a leader painting a vision of a the new, he certainly uses old fashioned campaign tricks.
Photos: Alexandros Zondanos (Eurokinissi)
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