Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis spoke about the full range of current political developments, mainly explaining why Alexis Tsipras is returning to the spotlight. As he said on ERTNEWS, Tsipras is taking advantage of a vacuum in the political system, while noting that he never truly left politics.

Referring to the possibility of a new Tsipras party ahead of upcoming announcements, Georgiadis argued that the former prime minister “never really left the political scene. His departure, as it turned out, was completely fake news. He resigned after his crushing defeat by Mitsotakis, mainly to avoid coming to Parliament, speaking on TV channels, giving interviews, and facing the prime minister who had beaten him by 23 points. Instead of courageously confronting his defeat, he left. As it turned out, he didn’t leave, because immediately afterward he became involved in the SYRIZA succession process. He personally backed Mr. Kasselakis to prevent Achtsioglou’s election. Then he supported Kasselakis against the Haritsis-Achtsioglou group that created New Left.

“Later, he pushed Kasselakis out in order to take the party back through Famellos and Gerovasili. Then came the Ithaca appearance from the balcony, which pushed SYRIZA into the corner of the political system.”

“I don’t think Mr. Tsipras ever truly left”
Georgiadis continued: “To be honest, I don’t think Mr. Tsipras ever truly left. He was always here in the end, just doing it in a way that suits his character,” and explained his reasoning: “He sees that there is a huge vacuum in our political system — the vacuum left by Mr. Androulakis. The truly major patient of our political system is PASOK. PASOK was not the official opposition after the elections. It became the official opposition because of SYRIZA’s split and everything that followed.”

Georgiadis attributed Tsipras’ return to politics to the fact that during the two years PASOK served as official opposition, it failed to increase its polling numbers, creating an opportunity that could not remain unexploited.

“Gogo Mastrokosta is a symbol in the fight against cancer”
Georgiadis also spoke emotionally about Gogo Mastrokosta, describing her as a “symbol” and referring to how united her family remained throughout her hospitalization.

“She became a symbol in the fight against cancer because she faced it with tremendous courage. Because of my position, I had known for quite some time about the battle this woman was fighting with multiple cancers, and with how much dignity and bravery. I want to say that her husband was an exemplary source of support. Everyone at Evangelismos Hospital speaks about how loving this couple was and how much he supported her. Gogo is a symbol for women battling cancer. Perhaps someday, as a ministry, we should make greater communicative use of this symbol because we are talking about a very bright and beloved figure who had a major career in Greece, inspired many people, was a fitness trainer and a mother. It is a very emotional day for us here at the ministry,” the Health Minister said, concluding: “Mrs. Gogo Mastrokosta left with her head held high, with dignity, courage, and a family full of love and humanity.”

The elections
Speaking about elections, Georgiadis estimated that they will take place in 2027, while stressing that “after the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), any date is no longer considered an early election.”

When asked whether there could be cooperation in the event of no parliamentary majority, Georgiadis responded sharply: “Stupid question. Nobody will cooperate with anybody. There is no culture of cooperation in Greece. Let’s not fool people. The only party we could form a coalition government with is PASOK. PASOK passed a congress decision saying it will not govern with us. Fine. We cannot govern with anyone else. It’s impossible. PASOK cannot govern with us.”

Karystianou’s party
Georgiadis described the launch event for Maria Karystianou’s party as very poor, saying among other things: “The launch of Karystianou’s party was disappointing. I don’t think the numbers I’m seeing are representative. The start was very bad. If I were in her position, I would be very concerned with such an opening. Apart from Mr. Avgerinos, there was nothing else in that event.”

Which opponent he prefers
At another point in his remarks, Georgiadis said: “Obviously I prefer Androulakis as an opponent rather than Tsipras. The reason is very simple: Tsipras is someone with many talents, he has served as prime minister and has a certain charisma. Mr. Androulakis is permanently angry and always gloomy.”

“Kovesi’s reaction is not about the amendment”
Referring to European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi’s intervention regarding institutional changes in the criminal investigation process for political figures, Georgiadis stated: “Ms. Kovesi’s reaction is not about the amendment,” arguing that it concerns disagreements over the authority for renewing the mandates of European delegated prosecutors.

“Ms. Kovesi did not dare challenge the Supreme Court legally,” the Health Minister said.

Hazardous and unhealthy professions
Referring to the new regulation on hazardous and unhealthy professions, he noted that nurses will be included in this category and also announced the creation of a separate nursing sector. “Everything I have promised will happen,” Georgiadis concluded.