In a personal attack on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras over the handling of the Novartis case, main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday accused “Tsipras and his associates” of leading Greece down “very dangerous paths” and warned that they will be answerable to the Greek people.
“As the history of this country has shown, democratic institutions are much more powerful than those that seek to undermine them. The rule of law always prevails over the deep state and I am absolutely certain that this will happen once again,” he said.
According to Mitsotakis, the government was seeking to distract public opinion “from the fourth memorandum and the new measures that it has already signed, away from the citizens’ daily life that is getting harder each day, away from its concessions on foreign policy issues and especially from its handling of the Skopje issue, which the great majority of Greeks now disapprove of.”
The government was trying to save itself “by doing the only thing it knows well, namely slandering its political opponents and dividing citizens,” he said, and by employing “unprecedented machinations that destroy the rule of law.”
Demanding that full light be shed on the Novartis case, ND’s leader said he would not accept that an entire party be slandered and the country’s public life “dragged through the mud” by three “nameless hood-wearers,” referring to the three protected witnesses whose identities remain concealed. “Especially,” he added, “following the government’s admission today that it knows who they are.”
According to Mitsotakis, this proved that Tsipras was dangerous, not just for the economy and foreign policy issues but also for democratic legality and the independence of the institutions. Stressing that no government can become a regime in a democratic state, Mitsotakis warned that “all those participating in this dirty operation will soon have to answer to the Greek people and to Greek justice.”
“As the history of this country has shown, democratic institutions are much more powerful than those that seek to undermine them. The rule of law always prevails over the deep state and I am absolutely certain that this will happen once again,” he said.
According to Mitsotakis, the government was seeking to distract public opinion “from the fourth memorandum and the new measures that it has already signed, away from the citizens’ daily life that is getting harder each day, away from its concessions on foreign policy issues and especially from its handling of the Skopje issue, which the great majority of Greeks now disapprove of.”
The government was trying to save itself “by doing the only thing it knows well, namely slandering its political opponents and dividing citizens,” he said, and by employing “unprecedented machinations that destroy the rule of law.”
Demanding that full light be shed on the Novartis case, ND’s leader said he would not accept that an entire party be slandered and the country’s public life “dragged through the mud” by three “nameless hood-wearers,” referring to the three protected witnesses whose identities remain concealed. “Especially,” he added, “following the government’s admission today that it knows who they are.”
According to Mitsotakis, this proved that Tsipras was dangerous, not just for the economy and foreign policy issues but also for democratic legality and the independence of the institutions. Stressing that no government can become a regime in a democratic state, Mitsotakis warned that “all those participating in this dirty operation will soon have to answer to the Greek people and to Greek justice.”