Tones rose between the Minister of Finance and the Member of Parliament for East Attica of New Democracy, Giorgos Vlachos in the Plenary Session of the Parliament against the backdrop of bad loans. Mr. Vlachos was not satisfied with the minister’s answer, after the submission of the question by the 11 MPs, and brought the matter to the Parliament again, submitting a topical question to Mr. Hatzidakis.
The blue MP began his prologue particularly aggressively, saying that “after the question we asked you, I did not make any statement to the mass media, and I waited for your answer, unlike you who first informed the government editors and immediately after one and which this, is not the best and don’t do it again”. When asking Mr. Hatzidakis, he insisted on the operation of the funds and the servicers, saying “they do not use tools but to seize”. “I understand that we can’t take the melon back, but we can give the knife to someone who will do a fair share. We are not asking you to give a house to someone who does not belong to him, we are asking for fair distribution”, he added.
“We all have the same sensitivity”
Mr. Hatzidakis, taking the floor, wanted to clarify that “no one in this room is more sensitive than the others. If there was one, it would definitely be populism, but we all have the same sensitivity.” As he argued, “the New Democracy government received an unprecedented situation not only for national but also for European data, in terms of bad loans. After the 2023 elections, the government with the support of New Democracy took new measures”. The minister reminded Mr. Vlachos that he himself voted for this regulation and emphasized that “we have a very important improvement, which did not happen, it succeeded”. He concluded by saying that “we in New Democracy do not give anyone social sensitivity”.
Mr. Vlahos took the floor again and confronted the finance minister, emphasizing that “we know what we voted for, don’t invoke it. What did you promise then, we pass the law to have haircuts, regulations, for the benefit of borrowers. Those who have besieged us, don’t they understand their own good? you present a “world created by angels”. In fact, as he said in a strong tone to the minister, “you said about reducing bad loans. You cite statistics. Statistics is the science of fraud. Please take the trouble to tell me how much was settled and how much went to the funds?”.
The Minister of Finance, picked up the gauntlet thrown by Mr. Vlahos and noted that “you are asking me to implement things that the bill will eventually turn to me. I must stay on this line with economic seriousness and social sensitivity… I said the problem was contained and I proved it. I don’t owe anyone… But I am not going to become a populist, to be pleasant and liked and to leave the basic principles of seriousness and responsibility.” As he said, “obviously the government is not celebrating a big social problem. With sensitivity and seriousness we are obliged to make this effort, we must continue on this path, because it brings results and we owe it to the Greeks”. And he concluded by saying, “the measures we adopted we will implement, do not re-propose adopted measures. We will proceed with good practices away from populist approaches and we both want to do something serious and responsible.”
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