The verbal attack took place in yesterday’s celebratory convention on the 40^th founding anniversary of New Democracy

Alluding to Mr. Tsipras, he spoke of ‘’an actor’s smile, a Christian’s cross, and a European apparel’’. As the Prime Minister’s  associates subsequently explained, ‘’ he wanted to point out the hypocrisy of Mr. Tsipras who would even play Christian in order to sound appealing to a larger group of voters’’. He visited the Holy Mt. Athos and just a couple of weeks ago he went to the Vatican and met with the Pope in an attempt to reassure the overall Christian community of believers and appease their reservations in view of the upcoming elections. This strategy wasn’t to Mr. Samaras liking at all, something that he didn’t fail to mention to his parties’ MPs and members in general, stressing that it is downright pretentious. Mr. Samaras accused SYRIZA of populism and of political declarations equivalent to the notorious ‘’ There’s enough money’’ by George Papandreou.

On his side, the Prime Minister was rather sparing in his declarations, simply dwelling on the fact that Greece is finding its way out of the crisis and the memorandums, getting over with them by the end of the year, much earlier than anticipated.