«The members of parliament of all parties must realize that their role is to assume major responsibilities. To be a member of parliament is not for receiving a salary and demanding privileges. It is not for getting named president, vice president, , minister, or deputy minister. Each MP carries a huge responsibility and I believe that, at this moment, all MPs must realize that they must act responsibly”, stated Stavros Theodorakis to the reporters outside the Parliament. Mr. Theodorakis also stated that “we support the Prime Minister and we will vote for whatever he has promised to our allies. Potami will not become a typical opposition party. It will remain a responsible political force". He also emphasized that “We will not participate in a SYRIZA government. We believe that the Prime Minister has a clear mandate from the January elections. He can proceed and we will be waiting for his decisions. Our stance will be the stance of a European reformist opposition party”.
Below is the entire statement by Mr. Theodorakis and his answers to the questions posed by the journalists.
Stavros Theodorakis: Even in this crucial moment for the country, the old party system is vacillating between the interests of their parties and the national interest. For Potami, there is no such dilemma. We support the Prime Minister and we will vote for what he has promised to our allies. Potami will not become a typical opposition party. It will remain a responsible political force.
JOURNALIST: There are MPs threatening to reject the bailout plan…
Stavros Theodorakis: The members of parliament of all parties must realize that their role is to assume major responsibilities. To be a member of parliament is not for receiving a salary and demanding privileges. It is not for getting named president, vice president, Minister, or Deputy Minister. Each MP carries a huge responsibility and I believe that, at this moment, all MPs must realize that they must act responsibly. I respect the MPs that disagree and resign their seats. It is their right to say “I do not vote for these measures, I resign my parliamentary seat and leave the parliament". However, I think that the ones who want their cake and eat it too do not contribute to the national effort at this point in time. It is unacceptable that the Prime Minister of the country reaches a deal and some undermine him from within his own party. It is unacceptable, simply unacceptable. We will vote for the measures that Alexis Tsipras has promised to our partners. And we will do so, because the country has no room for other choices. Since the Prime Minister says that we have reached the limit and we promised those things, we will support him. Mr. Tsipras is well aware of what must be done in the country. Reforms must be implemented, changes must be made. The state must stop acting towards the citizens the way it currently does. It is necessary to radically restructure the public sector and, of course, the changes must benefit the majority. In other words, a major reform program. At some point, Mr. Tsipras must tell us with whom he will promote the necessary changes in the country.
JOURNALIST: Will you join the government?
Stavros Theodorakis: For us, it is quite clear. We will not participate in a SYRIZA government. We believe that the Prime Minister has a clear mandate from the January elections. He can proceed and we will be waiting for his decisions. Our stance will be the stance of a European reformist opposition party. We will support whatever promotes reforms, whatever benefits the majority. If there are things over which we disagree, we will talk about them. But, everything must be transparent. I am really worried when I see that certain political forces are not clear. They send out blurry parts of the overall picture and do not answer the big question. The big question is: Mr. Tsipras agreed on some things with our European partners. Do we support him or not? Do we question the Prime Minister or not? In any case, POTAMI, the smallest of the major players of the political system says that we will support the Prime Minister and vote for all the major decisions that he made.
JOURNALIST: Under which conditions, would you join such a government, Mr. Theodorakis?
Stavros Theodorakis: It is too early to have this conversation. The voting process must be carried out in Parliament, so that we can see a solid front of 250 MPs in favor of the proposals submitted by Alexis Tsipras. Everything else will be reviewed later on.
14 July 2015
Photo credit: Theodore Manolopoulos
