National liberalism

Conservative former prime minister Antonis Samaras has tested positive for Covid-19 and will therefore not be attending the 87th Thessaloniki International Fair (Sept. 9-17) and the prime minister's speech, government sources said on Tuesday.

The annual Fair is where prime ministers present the basic parameters of their four-year government plan. 

A government delegation embarked on a visit to assess the areas affected by the fires in Evros, in northeastern Greece, on Monday.

Heading the delegation is State Minister Makis Voridis, who is joined by Citizen Protection Minister Ioannis Oikonomou, Rural Development and Food Minister Lefteris Avgenakis, and Alternate Interior Minister Thodoris Livanios.

An allowance of 534 euros per month for up to three months will be provided to employees of businesses that were forced to close due to the fires, Labor Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Monday.

The government intends to put an end to the "unbearable insanity" where Greece has no private universities in Greece, Minister of State Makis Voridis has said.

In an interview with Real FM, Voridis discussed the recent announcements by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Parliament regarding private third level education.

The government is preparing legislation that will change the amount docked from pensions for pensioners that go back to work, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Adonis Georgiadis told Skai TV on Sunday.

He said a current flat rate of 30% will be replaced by a system that is proportional and based on the number of days worked.

New Labor and Social Affairs Minister Adonis Georgiadis has been tasked with some tough battles in the labor and social security fields which are quite different from those in which he was active in the past, from the very first day at the ministry.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chose to visit the Finance Ministry on Wednesday for his first official visit since his re-election. He was met at the ministry by new Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis. The prime minister was accompanied by Minister of State Akis Skertsos and his economic advisor Alex Patelis.

Following is the political backdrop to Greece's parliamentary election on Sunday. Opinion polls show former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party winning by a wide margin over the leftist Syriza party, which ruled in 2015-2019 at the peak of the Greek debt crisis.

May election

The winner of Sunday's Greek elections will likely be Kyriakos Mitsotakis - but just as important for the future of Greek democracy is who loses, as the country risks being left without a real opposition.

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated on Wednesday his pledge to include more women in his cabinet if he is re-elected in the June 25 election. "I have pledged that we will have many more women in the next cabinet," the ND president said.