In an interview to Reuters News Agency and reporter Renee Maltezou, titled “Frontrunner in Greek election says he is ready for ‘leap forward'”, the President of
Greece’s conservative party New Democracy (ND), Kyriakos Mitsotakis says the first thing the country needs to boost economic growth is a stable government and a strong majority in parliament.
As Reuters reports:
“If we are able to reach that goal, and I’m very optimistic, I think that we’ll send a very clear signal that we have four years ahead of us, without any additional elections to deliver on our plans.”
The conservative leader has been urging voters recently to give him a clear majority but has also said in the past that he is open to alliances.
Tsipras called the early election after the defeat of his Syriza party by New Democracy in European Parliament and local elections in May.
A Harvard-educated ex-banker who gave up a career in the financial sector for politics, he did not deviate from his schedule an inch although his motorcade had to stop at every red light on the way. But he talks of revving up the country, saying the only way to “jolt the Greek economy into a different growth trajectory” is with reforms and investments.
He has promised jobs, a crackdown on crime as well as more funds and help from Europe for a country that has seen huge inflows of refugees in recent years and tensions with Turkey.
He wants to unblock privatizations, reduce what he calls the state’s needlessly large footprint and make sure that Greece borrows at the same cost as other European countries. He also plans to hold “an honest discussion” with European lenders to reduce Greece’s 3.5 percent annual primary surplus target in 2020-2022, a move that would allow further tax cuts.more at reuters.com
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