Tsoukalas: “Mitsotakis’ Government Has Exacerbated the Housing and Demographic Crises”

In a strongly worded intervention ahead of the Prime Minister’s keynote speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair, PASOK-KINAL spokesperson Kostas Tsoukalas accused the government of failing to address the country’s most pressing social issues, particularly the deepening demographic crisis and housing affordability.

“Six years in power, and we are seeing the lowest birth rates in modern Greek history. We’re not in a crisis anymore, but the government behaves like we still are,” he stressed.

“No success, no excuses”

Tsoukalas openly questioned the government’s self-praise over economic growth, pointing out that a 4% GDP increase in six years cannot be celebrated under the current circumstances:

• No more bailout programs for seven years,
• €70 billion in EU Recovery and Resilience Funds,
• Additional EU agricultural and cohesion funds.

“Are you seriously proud of this? This is a confession of complete failure,” he remarked, in direct response to government claims of economic success.

On taxes: “They say they cut taxes—yet now promise to cut them again?”

Addressing the government’s narrative around tax relief, Tsoukalas dismantled the claim:

“If they had cut taxes, they wouldn’t now be promising to do it. The reality is, this government is bleeding the middle class.”

He pointed to:

• Presumptive taxation on hundreds of thousands of self-employed professionals,
• Annual increases in social security contributions,
• An estimated €1.2 billion clawback through non-indexation of tax brackets.

Demographic and Housing Crisis: “Collapse, not progress”

The housing shortage and declining birth rates are, according to Tsoukalas, symptoms of systemic neglect and failed planning:

“We’ve been out of crisis for years, yet the numbers show an unprecedented demographic collapse,” he noted, citing ineffective social policy despite economic room to act.

Unfulfilled promises: “Seven years later, nothing delivered”

Tsoukalas reminded the public of a long list of broken promises made by the ruling New Democracy party before the 2019 elections:

• Repeal of the Katrougalos pension law – “Never happened. In fact, it was applied more strictly than ever.”
• Back payments to pensioners as per court rulings – “Not honored.”
• Independent institutions – “They tried to control everything.”
• Social mobility – “We got booming profits for big business and collapsing purchasing power for the rest.”

“Is this what Mitsotakis meant by a ‘social elevator’?” he asked pointedly.

The “Black Book” of governance failure

Tsoukalas referenced the “Black Book” of PASOK, a detailed document listing failures of the current government across key policy areas.

“Not a single statistic from it has been disputed. Their only defense is to compare everything with the bailouts.”

PASOK’s vision: From resistance to change

Tsoukalas emphasized that PASOK’s goal is not just to oppose New Democracy, but to replace it with a credible alternative:“It’s not about pre-election handouts. As our leader Nikos Androulakis has said, the priority is to radically reform and modernize the state—only then can real development follow.”

Message to ND and SYRIZA

Commenting on Alexis Tsipras’ speech at the Economist conference, Tsoukalas noted:“I heard a lot of our ideas being repeated. Concepts like ‘National Recovery Plan,’ ‘Made in Greece’ development strategy, and a ‘National Convergence Fund’—these are all PASOK proposals.”

He concluded with a clear political stance:“The government is in panic. They fear PASOK. Our opponent is New Democracy, and we are the force for political change that Greece urgently needs.”

Source: pagenews.gr