SYRIZA-PS launched a fierce attack on the Greek government following the Council of State’s decision to annul three operating licenses for branches of private universities. According to the party’s headquarters at Koumoundourou, the ruling “exposes the government planning of New Democracy and confirms the serious objections regarding the manner in which it attempted to circumvent Article 16.” In a related statement issued by SYRIZA’s Press Office, the party stressed that the Pierrakakis Law generates no legal certainty, and went on to demand its full repeal. “No legal certainty is produced by the Pierrakakis Law, no guarantee of studies is offered to the country’s new generation by constitutional acrobatics and legislating in defiance of the constitution,” the statement read.
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SYRIZA: The Mitsotakis government attempted to create facts on the ground at the expense of public universities
Furthermore, SYRIZA emphasized: “The Mitsotakis government attempted to create irreversible facts on the ground at the expense of public higher education. Today’s development confirms that the creation of a parallel private higher education system cannot and must not be treated as a done deal. Explicitly, clearly, and categorically.” The party’s headquarters then made its position unambiguous.
“For SYRIZA-PS, the position is clear:
- The Pierrakakis Law must be repealed.
- We must defend Article 16 in both its letter and its spirit.
- Education is a social right, not a commodity.
The Left does not exist to manage or legitimize the fait accompli of the Right. It is obliged to overturn them.
And this is where our fundamental political difference lies from other views that have been expressed recently: We do not believe that the Pierrakakis Law simply needs to be “corrected,” “reformed,” or made slightly stricter. It must be repealed. SYRIZA-PS is today the only political force that states this clearly and unequivocally,” the statement concluded.
