Ministers told to tone it down

In the aftermath of the local elections that ended last Sunday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent out a stern message to his ministers on Wednesday, calling for “unifying” rhetoric without “extremes” and “conceit.”

At the close of his speech to Cabinet, he specifically focused on the behavior of his officials.

“Our responsibility is to translate the hopes of society into action, which means commitment to our goals, communication with citizens in a unifying and understandable way, without extremes, without conceit,” he said.

His reference was seen to single out specific ministers because of their positions and certain statements made before the second round of the local elections.

He also admitted the mistake of not being sufficiently strict with his ministers during his first term in office. However, he noted that his reference to Cabinet does not indicate a reshuffle in any way.

Making an extensive reference to the local elections, he insisted that political conclusions were drawn from the first round when ruling New Democracy won seven of the country’s 13 regions.

“The ballot boxes judged individual people, works, attitudes,” he stressed, hinting that New Democracy and he personally have no intention of taking responsibility for the defeats of ND-backed regional governors and mayors, thus refuting the theory that the government received a “political message” after the second round.

Government officials believe that the political correlations have not changed and there has been no reversal since the local elections.

Mitsotakis told Cabinet that he is closing the chapter on the local elections and is focusing on how the government will move forward with “the strengthening of pensioners’ income, the relief of borrowers, important interventions that are being made in health, the allocation of funds to repair damage caused by natural disasters and more effective forest management.”