The Prime Minister Antonis Samaras responded to the motion of censure submitted by SYRIZA yesterday in Parliament, speaking at an event for Harvard alumni in Athens. The Prime Minister stated that “democracy is not afraid of the truth and is not afraid of the motions from the remnants of the past”.

Mr. Samaras spoke of the country’s need to return to the pre-crisis levels of prosperity “but with a degree of competitiveness we never had before”, before commenting on SYRIZA’s motion: “for some it is ‘censure’ to believe in Greece. It is ‘censure’ to create primary surpluses, for the first time in many years. It is ‘censure’ to move on fro recession to recovery, for the first time in six years. It is ‘censure’ to believe in the rule of law. It is ‘censure’ to restore the rule of law. It is ‘censure’ to resist extremities and wrongdoing”.

The Prime Minister then explained that SYRIZA submitted the motion “because the law was applied and a public building was returned to the Greek people” and that “the people demand we move forward. The people demand we do more and quicker. The people demand we do not take a step back and we will not take a step back”.

Samaras’ four steps to exit the crisis

The Prime Minister then took the opportunity to outline his government’s four-step plan to exit the crisis. The first step is achieving a primary surplus “ridding us from the need to borrow to cover our running expenses”. The next step which “will begin next year” is introducing new jobs to support social cohesion.

The third ambitious step is to return to the market “which will likely begin in 2014” and the final step for the “final liberation from the confines of the bailout deals” is when the growth rates and surpluses reduce the country’s debt and ensures long-term social peace. Mr. Samaras stressed that “we must face five things: tax evasion, unfair and high taxes, illegality, bureaucracy and public waste” and spoke of the need to overcome the concept of political cost.

The full transcript of the Prime Minister’s speech is available here.