OT at TIF – PASOK MP and Dep. Speaker: “To a large extent, I think we have achieved our goals”

MP of PASOK-KINAL and Deputy Speaker, Odysseas Konstantinopoulos, spoke to OT FORUM, being held in Thessaloniki, in the context of the 86th Thessaloniki International Fair.

Konstantinopoulos began his conversation with journalists by giving a news item, as he said, regarding the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on the wiretapping case.

As he said, “We learn from the Committee that Mr. Kontoleon (i.e. Former Head of the National Intelligence Service) said that he did not inform either Mr. Mitsotakis or Mr. Grigoriadis on the surveillance of Nikos Androulakis and said, in fact, that he doesn’t know how they learned about the issue.”

“However,” Konstantinopoulos noted, “Mr. Grigoriadis was the first one to resign and then Mr. Kontoleon resigned as well.”

Concerning the presence of Mr Androulakis at TIF

Asked about the presence of PASOK-KINAL president Nikos Androulakis at the 86th TIF, Odysseas Konstantinopoulos said: “We have not seen so many people in ‘Ioannis Vellidis’ Congress Centre since 2010 or even before 2010.”

He added that “Androulakis answered all the questions” – after all, he argued, “the Prime Minister refers again and again to Androulakis and PASOK” – “he set the dilemmas, the road map and presented the guidelines for the next period, for the formation of a social democratic government”.

To a very large extent, I think we have achieved our goals, Konstantinopoulos argued, and he said he was completely satisfied with Androulakis’ presence at the TIF.

Regarding the post-election collaborations

As it was expected, OT FORUM journalists asked Odysseas Konstantinopoulos, about post-election collaborations and the intentions of PASOK-KINAL.

As he answered, what Nikos Androulakis said was “clear”, he said “I want to form a government from the first round of elections. I did not vote for simple proportional representation, but I respect the institutions.”

He also said: “I will run for office having an electoral program, while he made clear the differences of his way of governing from the current or the previews ones.”

On the Prime Minister

Konstantinopoulos was also asked about what Nikos Androulakis has said regarding the the next prime minister, given that he has made it clear that he does not intend to support either Kyriakos Mitsotakis or Alexis Tsipras.

“With the third exploratory mandate, I will call for the formation of a government, the PASOK-KINAL president said very clearly,” Konstantinopoulos added.

In response to a question concerning with whom he would form a government and to whom he would address if he received the third exploratory mandate, he stressed that he would address parties based on his own programme.

Konstantinopoulos added also  that “It is possible that tomorrow the parties may compete on who will support PASOK’s programme.”

In fact, he cited as an example the social housing programme, which Nikos Androulakis was the first one to announce in Greece, he said, and which “was then adopted by Mr Mitsotakis”.

“Tsipras is like Khomeini”.

It is worth noting that when Konstantinopoulos was asked whether PASOK would do the same if the party did not get a high percentage, that is, if they would change their leader, he replied characteristically about SYRIZA: “Don’t worry, Tsipras is like Khomeini of Iran! He will stay in office.”

He concluded that neither the other parties nor the media can ask PASOK-KINAL to “mock” its people, noting: “We will meet our commitments.”