Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a clear message to Members of Parliament, stressing that he wants their more active participation in shaping policies, but within clearly defined institutional boundaries.

Specifically, in his opening remarks at the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Mitsotakis said that this participation is, as he put it, a response to the way the government understands the upgrading of the role of the elected representative of each region.

Watch the Prime Minister’s remarks

“In the consultation for mountainous areas and island policy, our MPs have also actively participated, and this is the answer to the way we understand the upgrading of the role of the elected representative of each region,” he said, explaining that the goal is the meaningful contribution of MPs to the formulation of policies concerning the development prospects of the areas they represent.

Mr. Mitsotakis identified as a central objective “precisely the participation of the MP,” as he said, “in how they can fight for the development and progress of their region,” linking this participation to the process of planning and maturing policy proposals.

In the same context, the Prime Minister referred to the concept of the “executive state”, clarifying that it concerns the executive branch and not the legislative one. “We often speak about the executive state, which concerns us, the executive power, not the legislative power,” he noted, underlining the institutional separation of responsibilities.

At the same time, he stressed that the obligations of the government and Parliament are distinct and clearly defined. “The responsibilities of the government are different, the responsibilities of Parliament are different; these are clearly defined by the Constitution,” he said, adding however that in this case close cooperation is particularly important.

“However, in this case the close cooperation between our MPs and the central government in drafting these plans takes on special significance,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis concluded, setting out the framework of institutional cooperation he described for this consultation process.

Yesterday’s response at the party pre-conference

It is worth noting that the Prime Minister took a similarly measured tone yesterday at the New Democracy pre-conference in Nafplio. He clarified that the “executive state” is not being idealised, and spoke with respect for ND MPs. “It is a method of governance that ultimately brings together the technocratic and the political approach,” Mitsotakis said, noting that “those who insist on drawing dividing lines between so-called appointed technocrats and elected politicians do not understand that we, as New Democracy, are a team.”

“We respect our parliamentary group, we respect our MPs, we ask our MPs to help us become better. We hold parliamentary group meetings — we will have another next week — every two months. We discuss things openly. We are a family. We resolve our disagreements within the house,” he added.