«This interview was not given to answer the question “will Samaras form a party,” but to provide an answer to the question “if not Mitsotakis, then who?”». This is the central message of yesterday’s intervention by former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, according to people who regularly communicate with him and can interpret his intentions. «And the answer was emphatic to this question: Antonis Samaras can govern better, as he did when he was Prime Minister, under particularly difficult conditions that were certainly more challenging than today’s», the same people continued, speaking to parapolitika.gr.
The goal of the Messenian politician, therefore, was to emphasize the so-called «governability» of his leadership profile, reminding of his difficult mission during his premiership, both against external factors, such as the then all-powerful German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the tough Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, but also against the domestic political environment, such as governing the country with a coalition government «with three parties initially and then only with PASOK under Evangelos Venizelos» and an opposition with the rising Alexis Tsipras, Golden Dawn and Panos Kammenos, in a country in major economic crisis. «I inherited Greece under bankruptcy, in a Memorandum. I didn’t bring the Memorandums. I fought to prevent them from coming. And when they finally came in 2010, I made the necessary revision so that Greece would exit the Memorandums one hour earlier. That’s what I fought for», he said characteristically, concluding with an assessment of «proper governance» as follows: «I inherited in 2012 a country with a 7.5% recession, it was the worst in the world, and I delivered it with 0.7% growth, I inherited a 9.5% deficit and delivered primary surpluses, in just two and a half years. Greece had already emerged from the tunnel. Some pushed it back in. And believe me, calmly, after time, History will judge us all objectively». «And those who support me and those who don’t know and admit at least that I ‘got through the difficult times, without ever giving rights for inappropriate behavior. And this honors me», he said at another point in his interview. This was one goal.
“A Greek capitalism”
The second goal of yesterday’s lengthy interview was his vision for the country’s future. Not only for foreign policy and national issues, as he did in his previous interventions, but also for the citizen’s daily life and the economy. «In the economy I would follow the creation of a productive economy with reduced costs. Because today our economy is mainly based on services, consumption, imports, funds. So I would like to see financing from the state as well -through, mind you- a mixed investment fund. There is such a studied proposal, mainly for regional development. The absorption of European resources alone is not enough, I mean. I repeat, state participation in this fund is also needed. Second, priority must be given to the agricultural sector, to what we call the food sector. Third, we must recreate a strong industry that once existed in Greece. There are strong units today too, but we lost our once mighty industry. I believe that political leadership must protect Greek industries, their units, and not facilitate their acquisition. We must operate within the framework of a Greek capitalism». Mr. Samaras continued saying that «there is a modern invisible poverty, as well as an invisible, hidden homelessness. Such issues require state intervention, which unfortunately often due to a neoliberal perception of this government, is absent».
He also wanted to show that he knows how to «read» geopolitical developments correctly. «A major issue is our energy autonomy, but also energy export. And certainly it will be done with drilling, as we had started the licenses in our government from 2012 to 2015, and then they interrupted them, declaring then that everyone was in favor of green development, as if we couldn’t extract and export to the rest of Europe, which buys natural gas from Russia, from Qatar etc. And when the «boogeyman» Trump finally came out, who said the famous «drill baby drill», you remember, they made a nice U-turn and remembered the extractions in the plots we had demarcated since 2014. Whatever! Fortunately, at least, Chevron got interested. Europe must… listen, Europe itself must recover regarding its energy policy, move to realism, follow what America is already doing today. Let me say it again: A very special period is coming. Whoever doesn’t produce their own food and their own energy will face enormous difficulties».
Right-wing references and “opening” to the so-called Tempe movement
Politically, Mr. Samaras showed that he wants to «address» the right-wing audience of society, with references to his anti-woke stance and his opposition to the bill on same-sex couples, but also with his harsh references to the government’s «friendly» foreign policy towards Turkey, and for the second time he «looked» towards the so-called «Tempe movement». It’s no coincidence that referring to the tragic loss of his daughter, Lena, he said that «it’s an experiential situation that brings me even closer to these parents (of the Tempe victims). It’s human, of course, how each parent experiences the loss of their child. It’s a personal matter. My family and I are deeply Christian, I believe in Orthodoxy, and that’s how I approach Lena, in a Christian way. Other parents may not have the same faith or the same perception, and that is absolutely respectable». «The government’s approach towards the parents of these wrongfully lost children is a huge mistake. It was and is an approach without soul. And quite often, I would say, without ethics», he said at another point in his interview.
Samaras’ support for Voridis and Dendias
Mr. Samaras’ interlocutors also commented yesterday on the former Prime Minister’s indirect support for Makis Voridis on the OPEKEPE issue, despite the fact that their relationship had cooled in the past. Characteristic was his phrase: «Look, what can I say about OPEKEPE? When, Mr. Mitsotakis, you appoint as president someone whom your minister, your agriculture minister, dismisses and you immediately take him as your advisor here for five years, until today, do you want to tell us that you still knew nothing? And we had to learn this news from the European Prosecutor? From Mrs. Kovesi? Isn’t this a very serious institutional issue, a slip?». While the same sources mentioned that everything he said about the government’s foreign policy concerned the Gerapetritis period, leaving out Nikos Dendias’ period at the neoclassical building on Vasilissis Sofias.
“The problem is Mitsotakis”
Based on the above references, political analysts estimate that Mr. Samaras has defined his political opponents. These include Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Dora Bakogianni, Giorgos Gerapetritis, PASOK and Alexis Tsipras. The references, in fact, to Mr. Tsipras were particularly harsh. On the contrary, he did not attack New Democracy. «The problem therefore, don’t make a mistake, is not that Samaras doesn’t stomach one or the other or Mitsotakis. The problem is that Mitsotakis doesn’t stomach the right, the center-right, neither the history nor the base of New Democracy. That’s why he has transformed it into a hybrid of Simitis’ PASOK with blue color. The difference therefore of Samaras with Mitsotakis is not personal. It’s political and value-based», he said characteristically.
Will he (?) finally form a new party
As for the possibility of founding a new party by himself, Mr. Samaras left it for the future, without «winking» towards one direction or the other. Initially he said that «if you ask me if a person of a certain age can have useful ideas, radical thinking, disposition for changes, opinion for overturns? If you ask me this, I answer of course he can. As long as he hasn’t been worn out morally and psychologically». Indeed, he brought some examples to substantiate his view, «which means he has thought about it», they commented yesterday. «In Greek politics, for example, after the World War, Papagos, post-regime change, Konstantinos Karamanlis and Andreas Papandreou created the new, without being young or newcomers. Abroad, the great renewals, the changes, were made by experienced politicians, not young ones. I’m talking about De Gaulle, Mitterrand, Kohl, Reagan, Trump in our days. On the other hand, young politicians brought literally an antique shop of ideas. In Greece, Mr. Tsipras was very young, but ideologically he resembled, sorry, a mausoleum», he said characteristically.
Waiting for polls and political developments
Specifically, regarding his intentions he explained that «all this time I read and hear various scenarios about me left and right, without me ever having spoken about all these things. And not only that, they have polls measure me too. That is, some people pay polling companies to measure a party under my leadership, which however doesn’t exist. This party doesn’t exist. And although it doesn’t exist, however, in the polls, I saw it reach up to 16%». However, showing that he still hasn’t decided definitively, he emphasized that «I am a politician who has conquered all offices in my career, with my rights and my mistakes. I reached the highest step, that of Prime Minister. Therefore, because I don’t have such needs, my motive is not personal ambitions or vanities or foolish ambitions». And most importantly, he emphasized that «of course, I also have inside me the great pain for my child. It’s not easy for me at all. I’m human, I’m not a machine». But he continued saying that «I still have inside me of course also the sense of national duty. So I weigh the whole situation with great care. I monitor everything. What happens inside and outside the Homeland. I will judge with composure. And when I make my decisions, whatever they may be, either this way or that way, I will explain them clearly and openly to the only stable ally of my course, for almost 50 years now: to the Greek people».
His interlocutors say that apart from the fact that it wasn’t the goal of this interview to answer about the possibility of a new party, as is logical he will weigh political developments and polls in the coming period and will position himself with a new intervention, which he also pre-announced through yesterday’s interview.
