A disagreement erupted between the government and PASOK, this time over the ASEP and recruitment, with tensions remaining high. The occasion was the visit made earlier today by Nikos Androulakis to the ASEP, where he met with the chairman and members of the Board.

In a statement after the meeting, Androulakis accused the New Democracy party that “in recent years, with the 2021 law, instead of helping to correct procedural problems, it created new ones”. He spoke of a failed relevant legislative intervention, which has since led the Southwest to bring 32 amendments. “The result of the government’s continued mistakes is that thousands of people are being held hostage. They have lost time, money and unfortunately they do not see any light in the tunnel,” the PASOK president noted regarding the successful candidates of the 2023 ASEP Written Competition, who have not yet been appointed to the public sector.

The government’s reaction was immediate, with government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis commenting on Androulakis’ visit to the ASEP “Mr. Androulakis of the House of Representatives last week voted against the bill to speed up recruitment through the ASEP, while in his first term as president of PASOK he also voted against the bill to select governors in the public sector through the ASEP last November. On the other hand, Mr Androulakis of Harilaou Trikoupis visited the ASEP today and denounced the government for delays in recruitment, when a few 24 hours earlier he had voted against the bill with the specific provisions, which aimed to speed up the recruitment process in the public sector. Which Androulakis are we to believe? The House, Charilaou Trikoupi, or neither?”

PASOK press spokesman Kostas Tsoukalas responded to Marinakis, calling the government spokesman “unreadable”, among other things. “The government spokesman, in his anxiety to justify the government’s failure in transparency and meritocracy, was caught unread. PASOK voted for every provision that served to facilitate recruitment. Can Mr Marinakis answer why 32 amendments were needed to the 2021 law, which has failed miserably? When we talk about meritocracy, transparency, and good administration, Greek society certainly does not believe Mr Mitsotakis.”

On the government’s side, sources commented that “PASOK’s new press spokesman adopted all the bad practices of an irresponsible opposition in one statement, first and foremost the formulation of lies, which can be refuted by a simple visit to the website of the Greek Parliament.”

“History has written that PASOK voted against a bill in principle that addressed key issues for the operation and effectiveness of the ASEP. But even on the articles, Androulakis’ party did not vote for, among many other things, the increase in the localization of the localization for all mountainous and island municipalities, and the increased right of permanent residents to occupy on a priority basis the permanent staff positions available on the islands. PASOK’s right to choose the path of ‘no to everything’, even to what everyone agrees is in the interests of every citizen from one end of the country to the other. On the contrary, trying to justify its stance after the fact, by showing black as white, refers to times we all want to leave behind us,” the same sources concluded.