Greek political heads engaged in a three hours televised debate

Greek political heads engaged in a three hours televised debate  Wednesday night , although the prospects of alliances -after the elections-still remain unclear. 
The debate, that was the first since 2009, was broadcasted by ERT and i involved former Prime Minister and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras,  Evangelos Meimarakis of conservative New Democracy,  PASOK head Fofi Gennimata, Potami’s Stavros Theodorakis, Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas, Popular Unity chief Panayiotis Lafazanis and Independent Greeks head Panos Kammenos.
The far right party of Golden Dawn did not take part. 

Alexis Tsipras defended his time in the office and said that the agreement signed with Greece's lenders in July secured crucial rescued funding and stabilised the economy. He admitted making mistakes during the negotiations. He insisted that the unified property tax (ENFIA) -that he had promised to abolish while he was still in opposition will be abolished during his second term. He said that the recent  migration crisis is a global phenomenon and denied that during his term the situation was worsened. 

Tsipras' key rival,  Evangelos Meimarakis of conservative New Democracy, accused Syriza for hypocrisy saying that Tsipras made promises he knew he could not fulfil. Meimarakis repeated his calls for a broader coalition and he also accused Syriza of wrecking the fragile financial recovery that previous New Democracy government had achieved.

The head of the newly formed Popular Unity (LAE), Panagiotis Lafazanis underlined that the discussion of a potential exit of Greece from the euro has never been really made in Greece. He said that that there are not “good or bad memoranda” and that “austerity is the disaster”. 

Stavros Theodorakis of the small centrist part To Potami, said that the support of his party should not be taken for granted. He clarified that  To Potami voted for the bail out agreement “as the alternative was worse” and said that he is not going to defend “the losers of the memorandum” .
Theodorakis  highlighted the need for a review of the public sector and repeated that statist practises must end.

The leader of the Communist Part, Dimitris Koutsoumpas, repeated that his party will not accept Popular Unity's call to form a pre -election alliance. He said that Greece has national wealth and high skilled workers and professionals that would allow the country to build its economy outside the framework of the European Union. He said that all refugees should be registered and then they should be facilitated to travel to their desired destination as Greece cannot cope with the recent influx of people.  

Panos Kamenos, head of Independent Greeks, that was a partner of the previous government, recognised that one of the biggest failures of the previous administartion was that they did not scrap the property tax ENFIA. He underlined the importance of a stable tax framework to secure investments and proposed the creation of free economic zones into the Greek islands. Kamenos said that one of the biggest challenges that Greece faces is to cope with  “illegal migration”.

Socialist head of Pasok, Fofi Gennimata highlighted the need for a coalition government and said that Pasok could be useful in such an administration because “we have the experience, knowledge and we know how to negotiate hard”.  
Gennimata criticised Tsipras for leading Greece to a memorandum despite having primary surplus. 

Another debate between Alexis Tsipras and his key rival Evangelos Meimarakis is scheduled for Monday September 14 amidst heated campaigns and electoral speeches across Greece.