New Democracy (political party in the Hellenic Republic)
New Democracy Νέα Δημοκρατία | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Kyriakos Mitsotakis |
| Spokesperson | Pavlos Marinakis |
| Founder | Konstantinos Karamanlis |
| Founded | 4 October 1974 |
| Youth wing | Youth Organization of New Democracy |
| Political orientation | Neoliberalism Imperialism Anti-immigration Zionism Factions Neo-fascism Anti-Semitism |
| Political position | Right-wing to Far-right |
New Democracy, mockingly called New Dictatorship or No Democracy, is the ruling political party in Greece.
The party has Makis Voridis as Vice President (and also currently Minister of the State), who is an anti-Semite who has cooperated with the CIA-backed military junta of 1967.[1]
Furthermore, Voridis, as well as other high-ranking party officials (such as the party's vice president, Adonis Georgiadis) are former members of LAOS, a far-right party whose former leader, George Karatzaferis is openly antisemetic. [2]
New Democracy Governments
Mitsotakis regime (2019-present)
Economic Policies
The New Democracy political party, in government since July 2019, has applied neoliberal and quasi-fascist policies. It has made massive privatizations in tourism and natural resources[3]. Workers' rights have also been severely limited, with strikes being mostly prohibited and with employers having the right to fire employees without giving any notice prior or to give any reason. Collective agreements have been abolished as well.
Censorship in media has been increased, with even pro-capitalist western organizations ranking Greece very low in press freedom and with also pro-capitalist western organizations claiming Greece has a "democratic backsliding" and is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
Government Surveillance
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the current Greek Prime Minister, has also put the National Information Service as well as the official Greek news agency under his complete control.[4] New Democracy, with the support of the PASOK political party, amended a law (specifically 826/145 of the law 2472/1997), regarding wiretappings by the NIS, which practically removed citizens' right to be informed of their surveillance after it had been concluded.[5] Ιn 2021 alone, 15,000 surveillance orders were issued.
This led to a spying scandal ignited in July 2022, when opposition leader Nikos Androulakis, leader of PASOK, revealed he was being wiretapped by Greek authorities by the illegal Predator software.[6] The case reached media spotlight, however there have been active efforts from the government to not come to a conclusion. The revelations were followed by the -almost simultaneous- resignations of the head of the National Information Service, Panagiotis Kontoleon, and the General Secretary of the Prime Minister and his nephew, Grigoris Dimitriadis.
Protests also need government approval.
2023 Tempi Train Crash
In the night of 28 February 2023, two trains collided with each other. The root cause of this tragic disaster was the lack of station masters (there was only one of them, near the crucial station of Larissa) and the lack of monitoring equipment for the trains. There has not been released any official document about the deaths, but the current information are 57 deaths and 53 missing, along with a lot more injuries.[7]
2023 Natural Disasters
In July, Greece was struck by a 15-day heatwave which was the longest in their recorded history,[8] with some areas reaching highs of 46C.[9] The country was, in the summer, the victim of severe wildfires, particularly in the Dadia national park, in which over 70,000 hectares were incinerated, one of the worst in Europe up to this point.[10] Rhodes was particularly badly affected, with wildfires on Rhodes destroying towns and villages, resulting in the evacuation of nearly 20,000 people.[11] Throughout Europe, the wildfires burned nearly 470,000 hectares of European land.[12] In early September, Thessaly was then flooded after 18 months of rainfall fell in 24 hours due to Storm Daniel,[13] and in late September, central Greece was once again struck by flooding due to Storm Elias.[14] A quarter of Greece's agricultural yields were wiped out and will be degraded for several years due to silt and mud.[15]
Reaction to Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa
Mitsotakis has supported "Israel" during the Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa, implicitly calling Palestinians "uncivilized people".
References
- ↑ Baboulias Yannis (2018-02-15). "The Far Right Is a Growing Threat in Greece" The Nation. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ↑ New Greek government includes ministers of antisemitic party. CFCA.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:13 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:14 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:15 - ↑ "Senior European Parliament Member Targeted as Spyware Abuse Spreads" (2022-07-27). The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
- ↑ Teddy Grant, Will Gretsky, Morgan Winsor, and Meredith Deliso (2023-03-02). "At least 57 dead, dozens more injured in Greek train derailment" ABC News. Archived from the original on 2023-03-01. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ↑ Tasos Kokkinidis (2023-07-24). "Greece Heatwave: Record-breaking 46.4°C Recorded" Greek Reporter. Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ Helena Smith (2023-07-26). "‘Everyone is indoors’: life on pause on hottest day of Greek heatwave" The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2023-07-26. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ "Greece wildfire 'worst on European soil in years', Copernicus says" (2023-08-25). Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-08-25. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ Anna Conkling (2023-09-19). "Welcome to my burnt paradise’: Summer fires in Greece leave devastation in their wake" Real News Network. Archived from the original on 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ "Wildfires in 2023: 41 % of the burnt area in the EU within Natura 2000 protected sites" (2023-09-08). European Commission. Archived from the original on 2023-10-01. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ "Storm Daniel leads to extreme rain and floods in Mediterranean, heavy loss of life in Libya" (2023-09-12). World Metereological Organization. Archived from the original on 2023-09-20. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ "Central Greece Battered by Storm Elias" (2023-09-28). TeleSUR. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ↑ Roberta Harrington (2023-09-25). "Greek agriculture devastated for five or more years" Business News Europe. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2023-10-01.