The first reaction by main opposition New Democracy (ND) party to Tuesday afternoon’s unexpected announcement, by the Greek prime minister himself, of tax breaks and a partial restoration of a pension bonus eliminated in previous years, referred to a rehash of its own pre-election pledges and to “the self-evident need to reduce taxation rates”.
Center-right ND again charged that Alexis Tsipras and his hard left government, which up until this year was a “strange bedfellows” coalition with a small right-wing party, demolished the Greek economy over the past four years and brought the middle class to its knees from excessive taxes.
ND also underlined that Tsipras faces an election fiasco in the coming European Parliament poll, on May 26.
“Obviously, they (tax breaks) are welcome, even if, for obvious reasons, he is moving them up to the spring, and not relying on the bonuses he doled out at Christmas,” a ND announcement reads.
“As far as his promises for 2020, they are unworthy of comment, as everyone knows that in a few months Mr. Tsipras will not be the prime minister, and he’ll have all the time he needs to relax in long-term holidays, either on land or at sea,” was ND’s reaction, directly linked to the furor involving Tsipras’ undisclosed August 2018 vacation aboard a shipping magnate’s luxury yacht.
