Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras renewed his attack on prime minister George Papandreou on Sunday, accusing him of incompetence in managing the economic crisis, and criticising him for the situation which currently prevails in Greece.
His comments were made during an address to the ND Political Committee held at the Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF), adding that next month’s local government elections were critical.
Samaras said that ND’s support was on the rise because the people feel betrayed, because PASOK made unbelievable mistakes, and livid, because unbearable sacrifices are being imposed.
He challenged Papandreou to give a “clear-cut reply on whether the extension of the repayment period of the (EU-IMF) loan will also mean extension of the Memorandum withy even harsher measures”.
The main opposition leader anticipated that the government will go ahead with even harsher measures immediately after the local administration elections, and called on the Greek people to force PASOK to change course.
In a newspaper interview appearing on Sunday, Samaras stressed that the great majority of the Greek people no longer consider the Memorandum as “inevitable” or the only way out, or even that it will save the country.
Samaras also rejected any discussion of a national unity government comprising all the parties represented in parliament, questioning “what kind of ‘unity’ can there be between those who consider the Memorandum the ‘only way’ and those who are trying to rid the country of the Memorandum as soon as possible?”
“The ‘welding’ of such opposite policies is not ‘national unity’, it is the search for accessories before the shipwreck,” Samaras said, stressing that “we do not want to be accessories, we want to avert the shipwreck.”
