The government is on standby for any… activism in parades around the country, in the shadow of the attack the day before yesterday by a group of anti-authoritarians on former minister Makis Voridis and his family, while they were eating at a restaurant in the heart of Heraklion, Crete.
The attack in question brought a barrage of support and condemnation from government officials and PASOK, but it has several government officials concerned about the climate being created. “This is not 2011 and 2015,” is the view of a senior government source who believes that society is far from such displays of anger, but that does not mean that there is no reflection and operational preparation.
Already, Zoe Konstantopoulou’s announcement that she will attempt to take relatives of Tempi victims with her to the podium of officials at the student parade that is currently taking place at Syntagma has not gone unnoticed, nor has the tension maintained by the president of the Eleftherias Plevisi Eleftherias, with a highlight her fierce clash with Dora Bakogianni and Olga Kefalogianni at the Conference of Speakers of the Parliament against the backdrop of the “cutter” for the speeches of political leaders.
“Anyone who intends to prevent, to dismantle, to restrict doing anything, especially in the celebration of a national anniversary, should think again and again,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis stressed a few days ago. The government spokesman thus echoes Mitsotakis’ now strategic choice to reinvigorate his relationship with the audience that gave ND 40% in two elections and a large part of which believes that the government is dealing with…softly with reasonable demands and noisy minorities.
It is no coincidence that government officials cite the so-called “silent majority”, which does not produce decibels but calls for efficiency from the government. For instance, it did not go unnoticed that the finding by Pulse that 46% of people agree with the Unknown Soldier amendment, as opposed to 44% who disagree. It is to these citizens that Mitsotakis is increasingly seeking to speak to, especially as we get closer to the election.
The rural areas
And while the eyes of many are on the Constitution parade and how the monument will be guarded, the government’s radar is also on the parades in rural counties, given that farmers and cattle farmers have already announced that they will take their tractors down to the Constitution on November 11.
Estimates are that there will be no particular problems, as farmers and ranchers at the end of the day are in turn demanding a solution to the problem of late payments, but on the other hand they are warming up their machines and “pushing” the government in the rural counties.
On the subject, the government is systematizing its contacts with the Commission to reach a final agreement and unblock payments to the rural world. The deadline that the government has in front of it is specific, as the Greek proposal must be submitted to the Brussels services for evaluation and approval by November 4, so that payments can then be unblocked.
The goal is that by the end of November, the checks have been done and the basic advance for 2025 has been paid; otherwise, everyone understands that things will go off course and the climate that will be created will be explosive. And by the end of the year, the bill on the incorporation of OPEKEPE into AADE should be submitted to the Parliament for voting, so that from 2026, the adaptation to the new data is fully completed.
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