Not five or 10 but 25 proposals were unveiled by main opposition New Democracy (ND) party on Sunday during the closing of its 10th convention, what the center-right party called a “truth pact” for freedom and solidarity.
The convention convened as the party and new leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis lead in opinion polls in the country, and during a crucial period when the leftist SYRIZA government is trying to close negotiations with international creditors and achieve a first review of the Greek program (third bailout).
Among others, the proposals call for tax breaks to attract new investments; linking the tax-free ceiling with the number of electronic transactions a taxpayers makes; an automated evaluation system for public spending as well as a “dynamic” policy to deal with the market-asphyxiating issue of non-performing loans in the country, mostly incentives and penalties, as the party announced.
Other proposals deal with simplifying business licensing; avoiding legislation that affects the market without the positive opinion of the competition committee, and guaranteed loans for the farm sector.
Another proposal calls for a program to attract European retirees into purchasing vacation homes in Greece as well as to adopt proposals by the Israeli start-up organization Yozma to boost innovation in the country.
ND’s other proposals call for acceleration in public-private sector partnerships in the area of waste management and recycling, along with more transparency in state contracts, procurements and investment opportunities.
One ND proposal that attracted its share of attention is the greater use of IT technology to speed up Greece’s notoriously slow judicial process.
On another sensitive topic, namely, citizens’ security and law enforcement, the party promised more foot patrols in locations “where it is truly needed”.
Turning to education, ND promised to promote the concept of entrepreneurship in the education system and to reinstate foreign-language post-graduate programs eliminated by the current government. The party also said it would establish summer semesters at universities.
ND also called for the expansion of the operating model used by the New Acropolis Museum, namely, expanded opening hours and an autonomous administration.
One novel proposal is the partial coverage by businesses of their employees’ mass transport costs, with the outlay offsetting taxes on profits.
Finally, ND called for the adoption of the “Dutch model” for social dialogue and labor relations, along with the expansion of the minimum guaranteed income rate across the country.
ND promised an action plan for the refugee / migrant crisis within the next few days.
