Greek PM Mitsotakis: The election result will determine what I will do with the exploratory mandate

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis mentioned the upcoming elections of May 21 and the possible collaborations in order to form a government, even from the first round, during their interview with Ant1.

“The only elections ahead of us are the May 21 elections. I will respect the dictates of the Constitution and take the exploratory mandate” stressed Mr. Mitsotakis and noted that “what I will do will depend on the election result”.

The prime minister emphasized that the election result will show our actions. He clarified, however, that New Democracy and PASOK have big differences.

“Mr. Androulakis has said that he does not want me as prime minister,” he pointed out.

The best scenario is a one party government

Mr. Mitsotakis then emphasized, however, that the best scenario is a strong independent government with New Democracy at the helm.

“I claim self-reliance and I believe I can achieve it,” he noted.

Regarding Mr. Androulakis, he said that “he did not agree to meet me since he became the president of PASOK. I had asked to meet him. He didn’t accept.”

On the exclusion of Kasidiaris

At another point, he referred to what is happening to the right of New Democracy.

“Some are making up different scenarios. I hear there are processes to the right of New Democracy. We forbade the Golden Dawn supporters from participating in the elections. It is unacceptable that they say this is election interference.

We succeeded in banning Golden Dawn from participating in the elections. We did what we had to do. This bothered some. Mr. Tsipras and SYRIZA did not show any satisfaction that Golden Dawn will not be in the elections,” he stressed.

What history has written, he added, is that two parties, New Democracy and PASOK fought the battle and Golden Dawn will not be the in the elections.

Mr. Mitsotakis returned to the issue of the elections, denying various scenarios that had seen the light of day, stressing that “New Democracy will claim a vote of confidence only from MPs elected with the ND”.

Wiretapping

During the interview, the prime minister also referred to the issue of wiretapping and to Mr. Androulakis.

He characteristically emphasized that Mr. Androulakis had made his choices long before the wiretapping scandal broke.

“I have made my self-criticism about the wiretapping. In the overall scale this will weigh negatively and not positively. But the question is what have we done since then. We made an important change in the National Intelligence Agency-EYP to ensure that there will be guarantees that something like this will not happen again,” he noted.

He repeated that Mr. Androulakis’ attitude towards him had been determined long before the wiretapping. “The whole attitude of PASOK shows a party that likes to revive the PASOK of the 80s. The challenges of the future are different.”

He made it clear that the next elections must give a message of victory for the ND.

“There is a mathematical possibility that the second, third and fourth party will form a government. It’s a possibility. We tell the citizens that in order for this not to happen, the ND must be very strong on May 21”.

Message to Turkey

Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to Greek-Turkish relations as well as the upcoming elections in the neighboring country that will be held next Sunday.

“Greece has one difference with Turkey and that is the demarcation of maritime zones. That is the only issue we are willing to discuss seriously. There is no way to discuss another issue that concerns the Aegean. We are not even discussing the demilitarization of islands or co-exploitation.”

The prime minister made it clear that he will seek to have open channels of communication with Ankara.

However, he admitted that “I am not sure that the issue of de-escalation between Greece and Turkey will continue even after the Turkish elections. I will be ready to cooperate with whoever the Turkish people choose.”

Debate with Tsipras

Referring to the request of the leader of the main opposition, Alexis Tsipras, for a debate between the two, he emphasized that these elections are elections of simple proportionality.

“In the next elections, because there is a bonus and it concerns the first two, of course it should be done,” he stressed.