At the center of a fierce clash between Mitsotakis and Androulakis was the 13th pension payment, with the Prime Minister directly challenging the credibility of PASOK’s announcement. The confrontation reached a boiling point when the Prime Minister demanded that the PASOK leader provide a specific figure — as he pointedly put it — for the cost of reinstating the 13th pension. The term “corner shop arithmetic” used by Nikos Androulakis to describe the data from the General Accounting Office regarding the cost of this particular pre-election pledge — which emerged during the debate as having no costing attached to it — triggered an outburst from the Prime Minister, who called him a “political Lazarus”…
Read also: “Battle” over the 13th pension: Government calls on PASOK to submit its proposal to resolve questions from the General Accounting Office — “We understand now — no arguments,” says Harilaou Trikoupi
Mitsotakis to Androulakis: “Is the General Accounting Office a corner shop, or are your numbers?”
“Are you going to give a 13th pension? How much does it cost, Mr. Androulakis? I want one number! I don’t want papers! How much does it cost? Will you tell me?”, the Prime Minister pressed, before presenting the General Accounting Office’s costing of the proposal. He cited its estimate that reinstating the 13th pension would carry an annual cost of up to €2.5 billion, insisting that PASOK’s proposal comes with no specific financing plan.
“I understand, I understand. I asked the General Accounting Office how much it costs. […] It’s simple mathematics — you’re a civil engineer, I’m a social scientist. Reinstating the 13th pension means the monthly cost is estimated at €2.5 billion,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis argued. The confrontation escalated further when the word “corner shop” was heard from the PASOK benches, prompting Kyriakos Mitsotakis to fire back: “Is the General Accounting Office a corner shop, or are your own numbers? You have no idea how much the 13th pension will cost!“
The Mitsotakis-Androulakis exchange
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I find it remarkable that today in Parliament you didn’t repeat what you said yesterday about pensioners. Are you going to give a 13th pension?
Nikos Androulakis: We said we would!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Ah, you said so. How much does it cost? How much? How much? How much does it cost?
Nikos Androulakis: All our measures are right here! We will submit them!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: No, no, no. Not “we will submit them”!
Nikos Androulakis: Here! It’s all here! Take it!
Dimitris Biagkis: Give us ten minutes!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: You have the floor. How much does the 13th pension cost?
Nikos Androulakis: It’s all here!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: How much does it cost? I’m waiting.
(Noise and protests from the PASOK-Movement for Change benches)
No, no, no. Tell me — I want one number.
Dimitris Biagkis: Give us time!
Nikos Androulakis: Read it! It’s all here!
(Noise and protests from the PASOK-Movement for Change benches)
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: No, no, I don’t want that. I don’t want papers.
Maximos Harakopoulos: One, two, three? How much?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I don’t want papers. How much does it cost? Will you tell me?
Nikitas Kaklamanis: Nothing can be heard and nothing is being recorded in the minutes the way this is going.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: So, I asked the General Accounting Office — I assume we trust it as a national authority, it is responsible for all government expenditure, it coordinates with Europe — how much this 13th, or potentially 14th, pension would cost, and I read: “The pension expenditure…
Nikos Androulakis: “Potentially.”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Listen, listen — because I asked you for one number and you’re showing me some papers. Is it really that difficult? Let me ask you again. Won’t you read it out to me? How much?
Nikos Androulakis: If you’ll allow me — in the first year, the cost amounts to €320 million…
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Ah, the 13th pension!
Nikos Androulakis: We said it would be paid in two instalments.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Ah! What two instalments? You mean half and half?
Nikos Androulakis: Do you want it or not?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Right, I see.
Nikos Androulakis: Listen!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I see, right, I see. Fine, OK, I see. Let’s go ahead then and look at this, because here it is — you know, it’s simple mathematics. You’re an engineer, I’m a social scientist. Pension expenditure for 2026, according to the 2026 state budget, is estimated at €35.4 billion annually. Dividing that simply, that comes to €2.95 billion. Excluding — and this is what the General Accounting Office says, not me — expenditure on lump-sum payments and other pension settlement costs, the estimated monthly cost of reinstating the 13th pension is approximately €2.5 billion euros.
Nikos Androulakis: Oh, come on, alright!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: “Oh, come on”! But tell me — since total expenditure is €35 billion, how much is one pension payment?
Dimitris Biagkis: What are you saying now!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: What are we saying now, eh?
Nikos Androulakis: Corner shop arithmetic!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: “Corner shop.” The General Accounting Office is a corner shop — not your numbers, which apparently are the corner shop ones!
Dimitris Mantzos: Don’t make comparisons.
Nikos Androulakis: Yours are the corner shop ones!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: This General Accounting Office has managed, in any case, to restore the country’s credibility, to achieve numerous credit rating upgrades, and to ensure that today when we go to the European Union, no one questions our figures. So what I take away from this exchange is that you have no idea how much the 13th pension will cost, and that you consider the General Accounting Office’s data to be — how did you put it? — “corner shop arithmetic,” while your own figures are scientifically grounded. Very well — let those who are listening draw their own conclusions. Let’s now move on to the other issues you raised.
First of all, you keep referring to the need for an Independent Market Supervision and Consumer Protection Authority — that has already been established, as you know — you’re referring to DIMEA. That authority already exists; it’s not something I imagine you’re unaware of. It’s already there. You’re proposing something that was done several months ago — I don’t even recall whether you voted for it. You did vote for it, didn’t you?
Dimitris Mantzos: It’s not independent.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Ah, it’s not independent. I see. You voted for it.
Dimitris Mantzos: An Independent Consumer Authority. That’s what we’re saying. It’s different.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: So what you are asking for and proposing in your programme is something that has already been done and that you voted for.
Dimitris Mantzos: You know that.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Beyond that, I won’t say anything more — but please tell whoever writes your speeches to update your proposals a little, because — in any case — it would be best not to keep repeating things that have already been done.
Dimitris Mantzos: Alright, Mr. President. The minister will explain to you what we mean.
Dimitris Biagkis: How low can you go!
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: You asked me how many inspections. Eighteen thousand nine hundred and fourteen inspections in the first half of 2026, with total fines of €25 million…
Dimitris Biagkis: How much did you actually collect?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: The fines are being collected. As you know, for a fine to be collected it must first be upheld through final court judgment — but these are the fines that were imposed, and as a result of these inspections by this Independent Authority we have managed to send a message to the market that we are watching, searching, investigating and checking, so as to ensure that the legal framework we apply is indeed being observed.
The jab at Androulakis over Tsipras’s political comeback
With his eyes firmly fixed on the return of Alexis Tsipras, Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused Nikos Androulakis of being responsible for the political “resurrection” of the former prime minister. “You are reproducing the worst aspects of opposition political rhetoric, Mr. Androulakis! You didn’t know how much your flagship announcement on the 13th pension would cost. And then you wonder why your poll numbers are stuck!”, the Prime Minister said initially, before escalating his attacks. “You had three years to build a credible opposition profile and all you managed to do was politically resurrect people who should have no meaningful presence in political life! You amply deserve the title of political Lazarus!” he said meaningfully.
As for PASOK’s proposal to reduce VAT on basic goods, the Prime Minister stressed that the government chooses to support those in need in a targeted manner. Earlier, Nikos Androulakis had called on the government to stop comparing the country’s economic situation with the memorandum era and instead benchmark it against the rest of Europe today. “How did Cyprus manage to zero out VAT on basic goods? Through inspections and fines for violators!”, he argued, maintaining PASOK’s longstanding position in favour of reducing VAT on essential goods.
Marinakis to Androulakis: Submit a bill on the “13th pension” costing €450 million
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis is calling on PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis to submit a legislative proposal for the 13th pension, so that an official costing can be produced by the General Accounting Office. The call comes in the wake of today’s parliamentary confrontation with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the cost of living and benefits for pensioners. Mr. Marinakis argues that the full reinstatement of the 13th pension, as described by the government, carries a fiscal cost of €2.5 billion, citing data from the state budget and the “HELIOS” report.
In his statement, the government spokesperson challenges Mr. Androulakis to submit a specific legislative proposal so that the General Accounting Office can officially verify the costing of PASOK’s proposal — which, according to him, amounts to €450 million. “This may be the only way for PASOK to understand that it
