"The houses of the weak and the unemployed will continue to be protected” Samaras to SYRIZA: "Do you think society listens to you?"

Spyros Gkoutzanis

The state budget for 2014 was passed with the support of 153 members of the coalition:
 
296 MPs voted
in favor 153
against 142
 
The independent MP George Kasapidis stated present. Detained Golden Dawn Members Nikos Michaloliakos, Christos Pappas and Yannis Lagos were also absent.
 

"The growth budget was passed after many years. It is a step forward," Prime Minister Samaras said after the completion of the process.
 
Samaras’ harsh attack to Tsipras
 
The speech of Premier Antonis Samaras at the passing of the budget was focused on SYRIZA, which he accused for incurable populism and an attempt to bankrupt the country.
 
Addressing SYRIZA he said: "You serve your obsessions and produce fanaticism, you were bothered when we talked about success stories, it causes you great frustration and you disputed the successes of our country. You cheered for the Grexit, and now you worry about the Grecovery, you are dismayed that the ship changed its course. These are called bad faith and blindness from obsession. You are intolerant to the successes of the country and this leads you in the wrong opposition. You did not vote for any of the cuts we brought in parliament and you cultivate confusion in the public opinion with lies that are exploited by populists."
 
The most important revolution, Samaras said, is the shifting to recovery. "Almost all anticipate that 2014 will be a year of return to recovery after six years of painful recession, which will be done by our own forces. And this is a real success of the government and the economic team," he added, giving support to Yannis Stournaras.
 
For Education, he said the situation is smoothed out and while the private sector has lost 800,000 jobs, we are talking about a few hundred in the public sector.
 
Greece will come back to the markets
 
"This year we exceeded our goals, we will overcome them next year too when the structural changes will start bearing fruit too. At the same time, the credibility of the country is enhanced and we are improving our position in Europe. All this will speed up recovery and reduce unemployment."
 
Primary surplus will be distributed to low pensioners and uniformed personnel
 
Low pensioners and uniformed personnel are expected to be strengthened next year by about 300 million euros from the primary surplus of 2013, as Samaras announced shortly before the enactment of the state budget.
 
He avoided to specifying the level of the primary surplus, referring to April 2014 when the official data will be available. However, he said that two of the most vulnerable groups, low pensioners and uniformed, will receive about 300 million euros in 2014 and the primary surplus distribution "will be the first major relief to our fellow citizens who have been wronged and will provide important support for social cohesion.”