Education bill to boost government reform profile

The Education Ministry’s bill on higher education was introduced in the competent Parliament committee on Tuesday and is expected to be passed on March 1. It will be the government’s final signature measure before the formal run-up to the European elections begins, and the goal of the bill is to demonstrate that ruling New Democracy is the only reforming force in the country.

The fact that socialist PASOK ultimately decided to vote against the bill essentially means, according to government sources, that New Democracy is the only party that brings reforms to the country against the entire opposition. Hence, it has the right to bill itself as the single “reformist party” against a “regression bloc.” PASOK will play an important part in this argument. “If we expected SYRIZA to vote against, the same is not true for [PASOK leader Nikos] Androulakis,” said a government source, stressing that the PASOK president, while attempting to look like a modernist, is actually implementing a regressive agenda.

This will be Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ principal political claim in the plenary debate next week, but it will also be a major talking point in the run-up to the elections, where criticism of PASOK will be prominent. The government wants to show that, despite the fact that SYRIZA is embroiled in an internal power struggle that is “tearing the party apart,” PASOK is merely attempting to take SYRIZA’s place.

The key thing, however, is the difference it will have from ND and what percentage of voters the party that comes second will garner. It is one thing to be the second party with 17-18% and another thing to move around 15% with New Democracy getting more than 33%. “A difference of more than 16-17 points and above will be a definitive confirmation that PASOK, even as a second party, does not have the strength to threaten ND,” a government source told Kathimerini, as such a gap is difficult to bridge.