The Maximos Mansion is proceeding with a dual operation of moving forward through reforms and appeasing internal party dissatisfaction. This is a complex and delicate exercise that will culminate in a week from today, when the New Democracy Parliamentary Group will convene in what is expected to be a charged atmosphere.
Mitsotakis’ message to dissatisfied MPs: Role upgrade and regional participation
Kyriakos Mitsotakis continued the “opening” towards dissatisfied MPs during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, which he had started from Nafplio and New Democracy’s pre-congress. Speaking about the new Special Secretariat for Mountainous Areas and the Committee on Island Affairs, he characteristically stated: “I believe this is also a response to how we perceive the upgrade of the role of the elected representative of each region. This is exactly where we want MP participation: in how they can fight for the development and progress of their area.”
We recall that with the open letter published in the newspaper “Ta Nea,” MPs Yannis Oikonomou (Fthiotida), Andreas Katsaniotis (Achaea), Xenofon Baralias (Pieria), Yannis Pappas (Dodecanese), and Thanasis Zebilis (Evia) are calling for a “new governance model that will bring decision-making centers closer to civil society” and conclude by emphasizing that “MPs do not exist to serve any staff.” According to sources, they view positively and with satisfaction the fact that both the day before yesterday in Nafplio and yesterday at Maximos Mansion, the prime minister chose not to criticize or “abandon” them, but to essentially open dialogue with them.
“The executive state concerns us, concerns the executive power, not the legislative power. Different are the government’s obligations, different are Parliament’s obligations. These are determined with absolute clarity by the Constitution. However, in this case, the close cooperation between our MPs and the central government for developing these plans acquires special significance,” Mr. Mitsotakis also noted in his introductory remarks.
The 6 reforms set in motion by the Cabinet meeting
In the same Cabinet meeting, six reforms were set in motion, with the prime minister praising the economy’s progress and noting that “we are in the pleasant position of discussing how to fairly distribute this surplus that resulted from economic growth.”
1. The National Strategy for Regional and Local Planning, to achieve the goal of regional convergence and balanced development among all regions of the country.
2. Accelerating the implementation of the National Plan Greece 2.0, funded by resources from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.
3. Reorganization of the Judicial Buildings Funding Body, which is renamed “Judicial Buildings and Digital Infrastructure Funding Body.”
4. Institutional recognition of SLAPPs phenomenon in the Greek legal order and full harmonization of national law with Directive (EU) 2024/1069.
5. Establishment of a Professional School of Cinema and Audiovisual Creation, aiming to ensure direct and organic connection between education and the labor market in the audiovisual sector and continuous market supply with trained human resources.
6. Development of the audiovisual creative economy in Greece, with the new five-year Action Plan Greece on Screen 2026–2030 and the goal of transitioning to a mature, internationally competitive ecosystem.
