“A unified public message is essential — we have congress decisions that are binding on us. Everyone, especially in the pre-election period, must say the same thing,” said Kostas Tsoukalas in an interview with Parapolitika 90.1. The PASOK spokesman argued that the party’s true opponent is New Democracy (ND), stressing: “It’s EL.A.S. that is fighting a two-front war — hitting ND a little and PASOK a lot — because the only thing EL.A.S. cares about is getting Mitsotakis re-elected while grabbing second place for itself.”
Read also: All of PASOK’s candidates for the next elections — See the full list of names
Tsoukalas on Parapolitika 90.1: “Political change cannot happen with New Democracy’s participation in the next government”
Speaking on Monday (22/6) on the programme “Εκείνη κι εγώ” with journalists Stella Gkantona and Thanasis Fouskidis, Kostas Tsoukalas was asked about EL.A.S.’s positions on taxing extreme wealth. He responded: “We have already proposed taxing the super-profits of banks, the super-profits of large business groups, and the over-taxation of investment funds.”
When journalists asked: “Did PASOK say anything about taxing yacht owners?”, Tsoukalas replied: “On the issue of taxing middle-level wealth, there are always adjustments up and down — you can’t raise the funds needed to finance social policies from that source. Anyone who claims otherwise knows it won’t hold up to scrutiny. Obviously, each time the state decides how to tax what we call swimming pools or luxury lifestyles, but we all know that this is not enough to fund policies of that scale. We have a government that clearly does not want to touch the very powerful at all.”
He added: “It seems that EL.A.S., because it doesn’t want to draw clear lines on cartels in energy, food, the banking system, and investment funds, is trying to claim that taxing someone who has a swimming pool will change something. We don’t think it will. We have a far more realistic and robust programme that genuinely identifies who holds great wealth today. It’s the funds — not whether some middle-class or upper-middle-class Greek has a swimming pool. That’s something you can look at, but it’s not what can bring real revenue into the public coffers.” He also added: “PASOK’s congress decision is clear: we are fighting for political change, and political change cannot come about with New Democracy’s participation in any form in the next government.”
On EL.A.S.’s positions
Regarding the positions of the Greek Left Alliance (EL.A.S.), Tsoukalas said: “Up to this point, I have not heard a single position from this new party that is genuinely its own. Either it has proposals that are copy-pasted from PASOK, or others that are straight out of SYRIZA. I was particularly disappointed by their loan proposal, which I found quite conservative.”
He emphasized: “Mr. Tsipras is not our rival — New Democracy is our rival. We are a centre-left party. EL.A.S. is fighting a two-front war, hitting ND a little and PASOK a lot, because the only thing EL.A.S. cares about is getting Mitsotakis re-elected while securing second place for itself. We are the main progressive party in this country. Our opponent is New Democracy, and we want political change now — not to wait indefinitely just to validate personal ambitions. PASOK is a party with history, ideas, political personnel, and a ready, implementable political plan — one that could be put into action tomorrow morning.” He further added: “EL.A.S. is, at this point, essentially a personality-driven party, and based on what it is bringing to the political table, it is not saying anything specific that doesn’t already exist in the political landscape.”
On PASOK
Wrapping up, Tsoukalas also addressed PASOK’s internal dynamics, saying: “A unified public message is essential. We have congress decisions that are binding on us, and party officials must not deviate from the core of those decisions in their public statements. Everyone, especially in the pre-election period, must be saying the same thing.”
When journalists asked: “If some members are not on message, would expulsion be a last resort?”, he replied: “Administrative measures are always a last resort and are not our preferred option. We want a broad political movement where everyone can participate — we are a democratic party.”
