Meimarakis: ‘ND will not give government a confidence vote’

“Go ahead and vote by yourself what you signed; we say no to statism and policies that affect private initiative, no to taxes, no to the vote of confidence in the government,” Meimarakis told lawmakers.

He continued by attacking Prime Ministre Alexis Tsipras, acusing him of caring about his party more than the country. “Instead of becoming a national leader you turned into a party leader and led the country to elections,” he said, adding that he hasn’t even read the 2016 draft bill submitted by the finance minister.

Meimarakis also accused Tsipras of being unprepared wherever he goes, citing as an example his recent visit to New York where he “spoke against the country on corruption issues”.

Commenting on the country’s mountain of debt the main opposition leader said the agreement signed between Greece and its lenders removes the possibility for restructuring, contrary to what the government publicly proclaims.

Presenting the direction of the opposition, he said ND will support structural changes to secure investment and create jobs, but will not vote new measures and taxes. “We have a clear ideological and political orientation; we express the European center-right. We believe in the small headquarters and state with smaller taxes,” he added.

Meimarakis also rejected Tsipras’ claims that the government will change the management of banks, noting that the bailout agreement explicitly forbids the government from interfering in management appointments. “You caused a deposit flight, you brought capital controls, you created the need for recapitalization and now you are deceiving your own MPs saying you will change the banks’ management.”

“A very heavy winter is coming … The day after the elections, the Tsipras-Kammenos coalition started saying different things. You increased tax payment, the VAT on the islands and hotels, the solidarity levy, the tax on rents and you temporarily suspended the VAT on private schools,” he added.