The Deputy Minister of Social Security Pavlos Haikalis argued that SYRIZA and the Independent Greeks “said a lot” before the January elections and estimated that “we should have been more frugal”, while apologizing for “the exaggerations that were heard during the election campaign”, in a Wednesday morning television appearance.
Mr. Haikalis argued that lot of the pressure on Greece – especially at the end of June – “could have been avoided”, but stopped short of denouncing the government negotiation strategy at the time. He further explained that his party supported the government to “change the governance model”.
In relation to the greater debate on the country’s course, the Deputy Minister noted that he has not yet heard of any “serious counter-proposals” and opined that abandoning a strong currency such as the euro for a new drachma would mean entering “uncharted waters”. Mr. Haikalis further noted that “the bailout allows us to see things that we had not yet seen”.
