Question of party identity
If elected, you will have to work, for some time at least, with the Simitis government. How will that be possible when even today you are criticizing, from the opposition, government ministers with whom you would be called upon to work. For example, your clash with Costas Laliotis is still fresh. For myself, Athens is above government and opposition politics. Athens unites us all. Athenians’ interest in having a better city for ourselves and our children is a great goal that rises above conflicts. I believe that it is above party politics, and that is how I will approach it. So we can all work for the city and succeed, without fanaticism or excessive passions. How will you achieve that, given the fact that your own candidacy has a specific party as its reference point? In effect, my opponents are not the other candidates or parties. My rivals are the problems faced by Athenians. That is what I am pitted against. The strong political advantage in local government is the opportunity you have to mobilize broader forces and to raise the awareness of people who have not been active in the traditional framework of party rivalry. I believe that the problems we are facing are political problems; they are not a question of personal preferences or otherwise. That is why one doesn’t need to become politically neutral, as long as the debate is on the basis of arguments and raising political proposals, and not simply spouting the insults or populist slogans of the past that just perpetuate polarization and division. Is that why you refuse to declare your party identity, as (current Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos) is asking you to? I am sincere. I am not going to pretend, nor to cancel out (my political identity). I have something to offer and a history that I am proud of. I will continue to be a politician, and to be an active participant in the country’s political life. Local government is politics. Personalities without political identity are simply at risk of simply being considered insincere.
