ND chief seeks trust with lenders, despite criticism
New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis says that he can convince the country’s lenders that Greece “can make the necessary changes out of choice and not because it is forced to.”
In an interview published in Ta Nea newspaper on Saturday, the opposition leader said he is trying to build an honest relationship with the creditors as he hopes that this will lead to there being mutual respect between all sides.
He said that his party has an “ambitious, well-worked and realistic” plan for governing the country, accusing the SYRIZA-led coalition of signing up to a fourth bailout but without any funding.
However, Mitsotakis also accused the institutions of bearing some responsibility for the mistakes made in Greece. He said that they too readily accepted the imposition of high taxes, agreed to the government’s “monstrous” pension reform and turned a blind eye to the appointment of party cadres in the public administration.
He added that the lenders are currently in the wrong over their insistence on high primary surplus targets for the coming years.
