In an event at the City Hall of Thessaloniki, the candidate for the President of PaSoK, Pavlos Geroulanos, presented his plan for the Rebirth of the Homeland.
Responding directly to the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and his speech in the context of the TIF, Pavlos Geroulanos criticized the slogan “Greece 2027” of Mr. Mitsotakis and underlined: “And he seems not to realize that without significant reforms today in society, the economy and the administration of the country, leads us to a new social, political and economic adventure. Now is the time, therefore, for us to talk about the reforms that the country needs”.
Pavlos Geroulanos focused the first part of his speech on stories of people from all over the Greek territory: “I will talk about People. Our own people. The Greek women and men who stayed, the Greek boys who left, the people who were born, who chose or were ordered by their fate, to live in this place”.
Addressing all Greek women and men, he underlined: “There may be no lefto trees. But there are options. Political choices. I am here to say that there is another way, so that every Greek woman and every Greek man will feel that they will no longer fight alone, against the beasts of their own reality. That together we can implement a new plan for the country that will give our Homeland perspective! A new social contract that will give every Greek woman and man hope that something can change! I have named this plan Renaissance. For the Rebirth of the Homeland”.
Then Mr. Geroulanos described the fundamental values of his plan, “a Patriotic, Human-centered, Socialist plan”, that is, a plan that puts Greece first, Man at the center of every political choice, and aims to liberate creative forces of our country, on a national, social and individual level, “to build a strong Greece, a just society and a patriotic economy”.
He gave specific examples of the huge difference in perception with the New Democracy, focusing on the importance of agricultural policy, profiteering and the cost of energy.
He then referred to the “Patriotic Economy”, talking about an economic plan “that invests in the comparative advantages of each region, mainly its People, nature and culture, and strategically in areas of high added value and innovation, such as health and the defense. It creates and multiplies wealth in every region, because it keeps it, as much as possible, within the local community. It brings out value where we have so far despised, and frees creative forces by aggressively opening markets for Greek products abroad and new services in Greece”.
Basic condition for the Patriotic Economy and the most necessary reform for the country today, is for Pavlos Geroulanos the “Great Transfer» of powers, resources, property responsibility and accountability from the central state to modern cooperating institutions of Local Government, Chambers, Cooperatives, Labor Centers and local Universities.
The “Great Transfer” is consistent with international examples of modern economic policy such as the Build Back Better program of Joe Biden in the USA, the Industrie 4.0 program in Germany, as well as the industrial policy program in the United Kingdom, Prosperity through Partnership by Kier Starmer.
He emphasized that 3 basic conditions need to be met in order to achieve it: Tools, Institutions with Transparency, and Security for every citizen.
Pavlos Geroulanos referred in detail to the Tools “that allow us to change the production model, to expand the production base, to put more Greeks in the game of development and to build a patriotic economy:
1. Money coming from abroad
2. The wealth-producing sources of the country that have not been exploited
3. The public property
4. Our tax system, and
5. The banks
Analyzing the tools in detail, he made special mention of abolition of the Superfund and the distribution of public real estate to local communities, he proposed the creation of regional financial institutions to support local entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the creation of a “loan book” to tackle the scourge of private debt and bad loans.
Referring to the Institutions, Mr. Geroulanos pledged that “the first five Bills of the Renaissance, the first five Bills of the next PASoK Government, those concerning the strengthening of these institutions, with transparency and accountability, will be the result of substantial consultation and preparation” .
At the same time he spoke about him digital transformation of the country as “an overall horizontal vision for open participatory governance with transparency, integrity and accountability, which does not only concern the service of the citizen, but also seeks his empowerment, his participation, in a context of continuous control of each authority, with continuous updating, expanding and deepening the large intersection of OpenGov, e-consultation, Transparency, which we started in 2009!”
Then Pavlos Geroulanos referred to Safety that every citizen must feel “because without security, without certainty, those forces that today are on the verge of survival will never take a risk. And we define security as the right of every citizen, to plan our lives, individually and collectively, without stress and oppression”.
Referred to social state as a maximum investment, for a society and an economy, as, as he underlined, “the welfare state, when it works properly, offers sure confidence and security to every citizen and this is a condition for the participation of all of us in development”.
Then, he mentioned with specific examples about the importance decentralization of the benefit policyhealth services and Civil Protection to the local communities and the Self-Government, while he also underlined the need for full autonomy of the Universities and their interconnection with the local communities.
Concluding his speech, Pavlos Geroulanos sent a clear message about the need for the leadership to be the first to signal the great reform:
“We claim power to be shared transparently and responsibly, which will limit the privileges of the many. Mainly, the central political system. And, this requires a kind of politician, who walks with values. Because the first privileges he will distribute are his own and the first systems of accountability will concern him. That’s what I bring to the table and I’m clear. I am asking for your trust and vote to implement these changes. In the operation of the party today, and the change of Government tomorrow. And it’s a great opportunity. PSoC is a step before reset. But, in order to achieve it, we have to convince ourselves that we have changed. This, I advocate. That’s why I’m asking for your vote. And so, I pledge to honor her.”
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