Main opposition Coalition of the Left (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras took the podium of the I. Vellides conference center at the 79th Thessaloniki International Trade Fair (TIF) and demanded an immediate change of government. He said that conservative ND party Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the coalition government are taking Greece backward at a time when Europe is taking small steps forward. He said that the memorandum would be considered invalid from the first night of a possible SYRIZA party election win.
His speech was focused on four ‘pylons’ that include:
- * Diffusing the humanitarian crisis
- * Restarting the economy
- * Dealing with Unemployment and creating 200,000-300,000 employment positions
- * Institutional restructuring of the operation of the political system
Some of the specific measures include:
- – Diffusing the humanitarian crisis with food for vulnerable groups in collaboration with humanitarian aid groups
- – Free medical aid for all and access to public health
- – Restarting the economy, renegotiating debt and asking for part of the debt to be written off as had been done for Germany. He also said that war reparations are also still on the table as far as his party is concerned
- – The creation of 200,000 -300,000 job positions
- – Institutional changes to how the state operates and group contracts
- – Lifting of the special tax on heating fuel and giving free heating fuel to vulnerable groups
- – An end to privatizations
- – Lifting the minimum pension
- – Increasing unemployment funds and increasing the number of people entitled to these
- – Lifting the minimum wage to 751 euros
- – Restructuring overdue insurance contributions and debt to the state
- – An end to legal measures against those who owe money to the government, especially SMEs
- – The abolition of ENFIA and the replacement of this with a tax on large landowners
- – No tax for those whose earnings are less than 12,000 euros
- – Free or minimal cost for transport cards
- – More accessible education
Earlier he had spoken of a “crude intervention” amid reports of political pressure for the state broadcaster NERIT not to provide live coverage of his scheduled speech amid reports that NERIT’s CEO Antonis Makrydimitris and his deputy Rodolfos Moronis had quit due to government pressure for them not to present live coverage of the opposition party’s appearance in Thessaloniki.
