Mitsotakis slams gov’t for setting Greece on ‘disastrous path’
Opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday attacked Greece’s left-led government for signing up to a fourth bailout agreement with creditors without securing any funding.
Speaking to his New Democracy MPs, Mitsotakis said that the agreement, whose details were made public late Monday, would mostly hit the country’s lower-income groups, adding that the deal merely served to keep the SYRIZA-Independent coalition in power.
“The country is on the wrong course,” Mitsotakis said. “It is on a disastrous path which started before the 2015 elections and has led us to the fourth memorandum, the second [memorandum] in the government’s two-year tenure,” he said.
Mitsotakis's criticism came a day after he stressed his plans to cut taxes if he comes to power.
Speaking to Skai Radio, Mitsotakis said that his aim will be to lower corporate tax to 20 percent, from the current 29 percent, within two years of becoming prime minister. He also repeated his intention to lower value-added tax and the ENFIA property tax.
Mitsotakis contrasted this with the government’s policies.
“Alexis Tsipras promised 12.5 billion euros of handouts in September 2015 but has adopted 12 billion euros of [fiscal] measures so far,” the opposition leader said.