Mitsotakis slams Tsipras, vows reforms in Thessaloniki speech

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a broad appeal to voters at the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday, setting out his ideas on economic policy as well as his desire to unite a wide range of Greeks.

Delivering his speech against a background that contained the slogan “United for our Greece,” the conservative leader focused on three basic points: highlighting the failure of the current government and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, stressing the need for a new “truth pact” between voters and the political system, and a rallying call to all Greeks who want more reforms.

“Mr Tsipras is trying to disguise himself as a reformist but he cannot fool anyone,” said Mitsotakis. “He only has one goal, which is to remain in power whatever the cost to the country. We will never allow this.”

The ND chief repeated his call for elections as soon as possible, arguing that it is a “historical necessity” that the SYRIZA-led coalition be removed from power.

With regard to the economy, Mitsotakis said he will not “hand out false promises” and insisted that bold, front-loaded reforms are needed to stimulate growth. His proposals included reducing public spending, providing incentives for investment and tackling bad loans.

He promised to cut taxes by 1.9 billion euros over the next two years, a measure to be funded by state spending cuts.

The opposition leader repeated his pledge to trim the single property tax, or ENFIA, by 30 percent during his first two years in power but stressed that he would calculate the cost of any such proposals before making them.