In its statement, the opposition party argued that the government’s stance reflects political decay and accused the prime minister of contradicting himself through his words and actions. It made particular reference to the case of Makarios Lazaridis, saying that his continued presence in government, despite the allegations against him, exposes the emptiness of the government’s rhetoric about tackling clientelism.
At the same time, PASOK linked his departure to political pressure, both from PASOK itself and from interventions within New Democracy, including that of Dora Bakoyannis.
The party’s criticism of the government’s stance towards the judiciary was especially sharp. PASOK accused the prime minister of failing to condemn the public attacks made by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, while at the same time expressing support for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to the statement, such interventions create a climate of pressure on judicial officials and undermine the separation of powers.
In the same context, the party claimed that the government has repeatedly used its parliamentary majority to block the investigation of cases involving ministers, while also referring to allegations of surveillance targeting politicians and journalists.
The statement concluded with pointed criticism of the prime minister’s invocation of international rule-of-law indicators, stressing that ‘numbers do not negate the daily experience of citizens’ and calling on him not to ‘hide behind statistics’.
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