Former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has responded to last Saturday’s front-page story in the newspaper Parapolitika with a new social media video, while simultaneously launching a fresh attack on the government.
This time, responding to the article by Giannis Kourtakis published in Parapolitika, under the headline “Antonis Samaras: ‘Vote for me to oust Mitsotakis — and the day after I’ll shut down the party’ — Why the Prime Minister should not underestimate the man from Messenia”, Samaras is quoted — in a conversation with his close associate Nikos Tsioutsias — as saying: “I don’t care who loses their seat. The only thing I care about is that Greece doesn’t lose.”
In his article, Giannis Kourtakis wrote: “From the very first moment Antonis Samaras began leaving open the possibility of forming a new political party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis appeared, in almost all of his private conversations, to be underestimating the electoral potential of such a venture. He did not hesitate to make predictions about the vote share a formation whose sole mission is to deny New Democracy an outright majority could possibly achieve. ‘It won’t exceed 2%–2.5%,’ the Prime Minister insists, referring to the much-discussed Samaras party. Regardless of what Mitsotakis believes, however, it is becoming increasingly clear what exactly the politician from Messenia is aiming for. On one hand, he will seek to attract disgruntled New Democracy voters, promising that his primary goal is not to damage the party, but to rid it of Mitsotakis’s leadership — a leader who delivered two outright parliamentary majorities and, above all, eight years in government. The motto that will dominate Samaras’s messaging, according to those who speak with him, will be: ‘Give me the power to rid the party of the gatecrasher.’ In essence, the former Prime Minister will seek to target a number of government officials who come primarily from the PASOK sphere, championing ideological purity and banking on the public’s short memory — and on the fact that he himself led a government in which both PASOK and Kouvelis’s DIMAR participated. Samaras’s argument will be: ‘Vote for me to restore New Democracy to its factory settings.’ Indeed, although it is difficult for him to state it openly, through intermediaries and in his effort to convince voters that he represents the original New Democracy, he will let it be implied that, should he be given the power and succeed in ridding the party of Mitsotakis, he would not hesitate — the day after the elections — to even suspend the operation of his own party.”
@realantonissamaras Τους πήρε το Ποτάμι…#AntonisSamaras #ακριβειαβενζινης #κυβερνηση #ελλαδα #fyp #fypgreece #tiktokgreece #ακριβεια ♬ original sound – Antonis Samaras
Samaras launches fresh attack on the government over the cost-of-living crisis
Meanwhile, following his dual intervention last Saturday on North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Antonis Samaras uses his new video to take another swipe at the government — this time over statements made by government officials regarding the cost-of-living crisis and their portrayal of the economic situation. He comments pointedly: “You know what? They’ve been swept away by the current. And you know what else? This time, they won’t even be able to fill in the damage.”
The Samaras–Tsioutsias exchange
Nikos Tsioutsias tells Antonis Samaras: “Mr. President, I’m heading out,” to which Samaras asks: “Where are you off to?” “I’m going to shut down the party,” his close associate replies. “Which party?” Samaras asks. “Don’t you read the pro-Mitsotakis newspapers? They’re writing that you’ll form a party and then dissolve it — as long as Mitsotakis and his arrogant ministers lose their seats,” Tsioutsias replies. Samaras responds: “That’s what they’re writing? I don’t care who loses their seat. The only thing I care about is that Greece doesn’t lose.”
The former Prime Minister then turns his fire on the government’s statements about the cost-of-living crisis and its portrayal of the economic situation. “In any case, I’m going to head out and go see for myself how many cars are on the road — because, as the government said, if there are cars on the streets, there’s no cost-of-living crisis and everything is fine,” Tsioutsias adds. He also makes a pointed reference to Thodoris Theocharis, saying: “Just so they don’t call us whiners, like Theocharis does.” Samaras asks: “Are they really that provocative?” and continues: “You know what? They’ve been swept away by the current. And you know what else? This time, they won’t even be able to fill in the damage.”
