He reiterates, at the same time, that “the serious Right is expressed within the New Democracy”, while he gives his opinion on the railway tragedy of Tempi, noting that there are no signs of guilt for either Kostas Karamanlis or Christos Spirtzis.
The interview begins with this topic, the railway accident, with the Minister of State rejecting the accusation of a cover-up from the outset: “What has been covered up? Who is covering them up? The Justice; The civil plaintiffs, the people who have suffered the tragic loss of their relatives, are represented there with their lawyers, submit requests, have technical advisors, submit observations, expert opinions, are heard by the judicial authority. There was all this great talk about the famous patchwork and whether there were other wagons and other materials. Appointed expert from the inquiry said that these are not true. A technical adviser – that is, an appointed expert from the civil suit – had a different opinion. A second expert opinion was ordered.”
Called, however, to take a position on the recent statements of the European prosecutor Laura Kovesi, he referred to the remarks “of the president of the administrative judges, but also of the Supreme Court, which is signed by his two vice-presidents, which point out more or less the same thing. That the European prosecutor has to deal with financial crimes connected to the management of European Union money. He’s not busy with anything else. So, other observations are obviously beyond the scope of her competence”.
Regarding the resolution, the relatives of the victims say that “it is a citizens’ request for a constitutional review”. And he adds: “It is not a cover-up that the Parliament has criminal jurisdiction. It is a constitutional provision, which cannot be overridden. Here there is indeed political exploitation on the part of SYRIZA, because two completely different things were combined, the constitutional revision and the so-called popular legislative initiative, i.e. 500,000 signatures for a law to be discussed in Parliament. Whatever the content of this proposed law, the law cannot change the Constitution. In 2019, SYRIZA had a constitutional revision process. Why did he not propose the repeal of Article 86? Why did he not propose the abolition of parliamentary immunity? Did he remember her now? Well, the signatures make a request for a constitutional review, which I suppose will be taken into account by the political forces, by the proposing Parliament.”
An order, however, that will not be proposed for revision by New Democracy, on the grounds that “we are the ones who have changed the Constitution and abolished the short amortization period of the two parliamentary sessions. Now, the offenses of the ministers are judged by the common statute of limitations”. In fact, he accuses the political opponents of the ruling party, that “instead of thinking criminally in reality […] they use a case to politically hurt the government”.
If he had Mrs. Maria Karystianou in his office, Makis Voridis would have told her: “With absolute respect for her position – because I have tried many cases of homicide both by negligence and intent and I know the drama of the families who have lost their own people and are looking for justice – and without any mood for litigation, the answer is one: there is no evidence of guilt. I understand that this is a position that may be distressing, but this is my belief.”
And, there are no indications either for K. Karamanlis or for Chr. Spirtzis, “to be fair”, points out repeating the argument that “Karamanlis gave an extension (s.s.: to the 717 contract) – seven had already been given. If he didn’t give it and the contract was dissolved and the accident had happened, he would still have to face the same thing.” Therefore, “Karamanlis’ intention was to finish quickly”.
Changing the subject, to that of the leak of voters’ personal data, Mr. Voridis acknowledges that “indeed a list left the Ministry of the Interior, went to a specific party factor and ended up with Ms. Asimakopoulou. Her mistake. All accounted for. Ms. Asimakopoulou will not be a candidate. The other two resigned. The prime minister has done this on his own, without any findings and without any prosecutorial charges.”
On the occasion of the business activities of St. Kasselakis, makes it clear that he is in favor of the business, “very much” and “legally”, as he typically states. But, then he reminds the legislative framework, as it was passed by SYRIZA: “Look and see how ‘it is an eye of justice’, that’s the beauty. It is a piece of legislation purposefully made to hurt the prime minister and his wife. Order! Now see how the successor of Mr. Tsipras got involved.”
And, given this, “compliance is required at the time when Mr. Kasselakis took over as leader of the official opposition. When he was elected, he had to immediately transfer the shares he had […] I wonder why the Prussian defender of the rule of law does not come to talk to us. I have this company, I transferred my shares in such and such a month, so and so took them and for this transfer I received such and such amount. So easy, so fast, so simple. This is what creates the question and the suspicion: Don’t tell me, isn’t it that simple after all?’
In view of the European elections, the Minister of State estimates that “on the night of the European elections what we will discuss will not be the absolute numbers, but the political correlation”.
While for his own role in the political scene, he says that he serves the Nation and the faction. Besides, he adds, “I’m clear about what I’m doing. I am first and foremost an MP, and when the Prime Minister decides, I serve in ministerial positions. I have no ambition for European elections. I do not underestimate the European Parliament at all”.
Finally, regarding the scenarios of him founding a right-wing party, he clarifies: “I leave the rest about a right-wing party. I believe and have said it many times that New Democracy is the space that expresses the serious, popular, national and social right. We have served all the issues of the right-wing agenda and have them as a priority […] It is this, if you like, that leaves no objective scope for a serious Right to exist, outside of New Democracy. The serious Right is expressed in New Democracy”, he concludes.
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