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Speaker 1: Greece went through a lot sort of very painful period.

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Speaker 1: We will never ever relive these difficult times.

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Speaker 2: Kiriakos Mitsatakis, the Greek Prime minister who many have credited

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Speaker 2: for the transformation of the country and its economy from

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Speaker 2: the past care case of Europe to one of the

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Speaker 2: continent's top economic performers. In this episode of Leaders with

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Speaker 2: Lakwa and his first interview since being re elected, Mitsatakis

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Speaker 2: sets out a series of plans and objectives for the

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Speaker 2: next four years. He tells me how he wants to

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Speaker 2: restore Greece's investment, great status, lower inequality, and continue the

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Speaker 2: fight against populism.

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Speaker 1: We prevailed through politics of competence. Reason we move the

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Speaker 1: party towards the political center. So yes, there is future

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Speaker 1: beyond populism, and we've proven that if you run a

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Speaker 1: competent government, you can actually make it possible to get

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Speaker 1: re elected.

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Speaker 2: He also speaks candidly about his push to legalize same

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Speaker 2: sex marriage and balance booming towardism with the need to

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Speaker 2: protect his country's natural beauty.

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Speaker 1: There are parts of Greece which are have reached situation point,

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Speaker 1: and if we have to place restrictions, we will.

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Speaker 2: My conversation with Kuriakos mits attack is next on leaders

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Speaker 2: with Laqwa Premiers. You have a second mandate from the

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Speaker 2: Greek people. What is your intention on how that will

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Speaker 2: unfold in the coming years.

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Speaker 1: Well, first of all, I'm very very happy, very honored,

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Speaker 1: and very proud to be able to secure a second mandate.

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Speaker 1: We actually got a higher share of the vote than

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Speaker 1: we did in twenty nineteen, something which is unusual for

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Speaker 1: incumbent governments these difficult times. And I want to make

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Speaker 1: sure that I use this strong mandate to drive forward

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Speaker 1: an aggressive reform agenda and to make sure that Greece

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Speaker 1: makes up for the lost ground of the crisis and

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Speaker 1: actually converges with Europe at a very fast pace.

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Speaker 3: So a high growth rate is for me my number

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Speaker 3: one priority.

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Speaker 1: This will give us also the fiscal space to drive

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Speaker 1: through an important change in health, in education, and in

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Speaker 1: other policies areas I deeply care about.

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Speaker 2: You're very confident that you'll get investment grade. When you

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Speaker 2: get investment grade, what does that mean? What does that

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Speaker 2: change in terms of possible extra investment coming into the country.

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Speaker 3: I think it changes lots of things.

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Speaker 1: There's currently a lot of capital that cannot invest in

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Speaker 1: Greece simply because we're not investment grade.

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Speaker 3: As you know, we.

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Speaker 1: Are already trading as if we are an investment in

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Speaker 1: grade country, but we also need the official stamp of

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Speaker 1: approval by the rating agencies. I think it will further

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Speaker 1: lower our cost of borrowing, which of course is important

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Speaker 1: in a high interest environment. We've been able to defy

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Speaker 1: the trend. The Greek economy is going to grow significantly

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, and this is also giving us

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Speaker 1: a fiscal space to further reduce our debt. We will

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Speaker 1: be able before the end of the year to actually

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Speaker 1: repay ahead of time our GLFA facility for the next

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Speaker 1: two years, and I think this will also send a

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Speaker 1: part of the signal to the market that not only

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Speaker 1: are we focused on growth, but we also want to

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Speaker 1: make sure that our debt to GDP ratio continues to

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Speaker 1: decline at a very rapid pace.

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Speaker 2: It's a promise too.

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Speaker 3: We will repay, yeah, we.

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Speaker 1: Will, and it's a commitment to investors. We will accelerate

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Speaker 1: the reforms, and we will make sure that whatever reforms

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Speaker 1: we implement will be done in such a way not

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Speaker 1: to compromise our countries a fiscal position. Greece went through

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Speaker 1: a lot, through a very painful period. We will never

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Speaker 1: ever relive these difficult times. But I think we've proven

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Speaker 1: that you can drive high growth, you can reasonably reduce

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Speaker 1: taxes while at the same time mentoring very healthy public finances.

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Speaker 1: And I do expect our debt to GDP to continue

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Speaker 1: to decline significantly. And of course, again this will also

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Speaker 1: give us the fiscal space to make sure that we

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Speaker 1: ensure markets that we're serious and actually we pay part

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Speaker 1: of our data.

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Speaker 3: Ahead of time.

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Speaker 2: In partmister, how difficult is it to do all of

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Speaker 2: this with the cost of living crisis?

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Speaker 1: I mean, the cost of living crisis is very concerning

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Speaker 1: to us, and of course it has hit the poorer

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Speaker 1: segments of the society disproportionately hard.

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Speaker 3: Two points.

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Speaker 1: First of all, we have lower inflation that more than

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Speaker 1: most European countries, and I think we were successful in

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Speaker 1: using targeted measures to help those in greater need. We

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Speaker 1: resisted the temptation to lower VAT and excise taxes, and

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Speaker 1: now I'm happy to see that lots of the studies

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Speaker 1: that are coming out now point out exactly the fact

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Speaker 1: that lowering VAT does not need to have reduction in inflation.

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Speaker 1: This gave us a fiscal space to use targeted measures.

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Speaker 1: We will most probably continue these targeted measures, especially when

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Speaker 1: it comes to the supermarket. We're concerned about food prices,

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Speaker 1: and I prefer a direct cash transfer to more vulnerable

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Speaker 1: Greeks to help them with a supermarket builder than a

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Speaker 1: horizontal cut in VAT, which will you drain my public

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Speaker 1: finances and probably will not be effective in terms of

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Speaker 1: containing inflation.

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Speaker 2: When you expect inflation and I don't know how much

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Speaker 2: this has to do also with the crane, but when

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Speaker 2: do you expect food inflation to come down?

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Speaker 3: It's been persistent.

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Speaker 1: I wish I had a crystal ball, but what I

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Speaker 1: do know is that it is coming down faster than

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Speaker 1: other European countries, although it is still an area of concern.

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Speaker 1: And of course, you know, interest rate policies are not

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Speaker 1: driven by us, so we have to adjust. But it's

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Speaker 1: good news that you know, for example, increased consumer confidence.

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Speaker 1: You know, the PMI has been growing, whereas in the

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Speaker 1: rest of Europe it's been on a downward trend. So

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Speaker 1: we seem to be defined the trend. Not only will

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Speaker 1: we avoid a recession, but we will grow by more

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Speaker 1: than two percent this year, which given the circumstances, I'd

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Speaker 1: say it's pretty good.

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Speaker 2: A Prime minister, if you look at actually your opposition,

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Speaker 2: you almost haven in parliament, but you do have the

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Speaker 2: rise of three far right parties. What can you tell

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Speaker 2: us about them? Are they pro Russia?

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Speaker 1: Well, first of all, we have a comfortable majority in

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Speaker 1: parliament and we've essentially met We have a twenty three

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Speaker 1: percent gap from your position. I mean, the Left series

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Speaker 1: suffered a strategic defeat in these elections, and I'm happy

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Speaker 1: because essentially we prevailed through politics of competence, reason we

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Speaker 1: move the party towards the political center. So, yes, there

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Speaker 1: is future beyond populism. And we've proven that if you

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Speaker 1: run a competent government, you can actually make it possible

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Speaker 1: to get re elected. So I think this is a

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Speaker 1: good message for everyone fighting an election against populists, whether

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Speaker 1: they come from the left or from the right. Now,

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Speaker 1: as far as the extreme right is concerned, yes, we

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Speaker 1: have three small parties in parliament.

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Speaker 3: We have a three percent threshold.

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Speaker 1: They managed to be right above that. In total, it's

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Speaker 1: probably twelve or third percent, thirteen percent of the electors

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Speaker 1: for two of these parties. We have no idea what

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Speaker 1: they stand for. It will make parliament probably louder and

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Speaker 1: more I don't know if it's going to be more interesting,

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Speaker 1: but no, the extreme right is not organized in the

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Speaker 1: way it is in other countries, and we certainly don't

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Speaker 1: need the extreme right to govern. We managed to governor

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Speaker 1: our own was always a strategic choice by me moving

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Speaker 1: the party to the center while making sure that we

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Speaker 1: attract enough people to have an absolute majority, so we

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Speaker 1: were able to do that. So these are French parties, Yes,

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Speaker 1: some of them are are sort of pro Russian, not

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Speaker 1: not not very explicitly, but indirectly. But they're not a

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Speaker 1: big factor in Greek politics.

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Speaker 2: So you don't think it's it's a warning of something

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Speaker 2: to come either for other European countries.

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Speaker 1: I've always been you know, I always take the grievances

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Speaker 1: of people who vote for protest parties seriously, and it

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Speaker 1: is true that, you know, some people do feel marginalized,

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Speaker 1: they feel threatened, they feel that you know, the maybe

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Speaker 1: the world is moving at a faster pace and they're

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Speaker 1: being left behind. But in Greece, because we went through,

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Speaker 1: you know, a crisis, I think there's been a process

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Speaker 1: of Greek society really maturing and maybe actually in terms

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Speaker 1: of the political development, leapfrog in what is happening in

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Speaker 1: many other European countries. So we want, you know, a

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Speaker 1: second mandate which is even stronger politically than the first one.

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Speaker 1: I think this says something about Greek society, and in

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Speaker 1: that sense it also gives the necessary political predictability to investors,

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Speaker 1: because I always said that you need two terms to

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Speaker 1: really do a big transformation project. So I think investors

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Speaker 1: are also looking at Greece and they look at, you know,

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Speaker 1: four years without you know until the next national election,

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Speaker 1: you know, a stable government, safe pair of hands. So

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Speaker 1: I'm sure that they like what they see in terms

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Speaker 1: of the politics of the country.

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Speaker 2: Up next, Tourism accounts for about a fifth of Greece's economy,

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Speaker 2: but as visitors flought to the country and it's beautiful islands,

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Speaker 2: the Prime Minister is at pains to ensure he doesn't

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Speaker 2: trade nature for short term profit.

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Speaker 1: I want to make sure that you know, in five

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Speaker 1: years from now, we will.

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Speaker 3: Not have sacrificed, you know, the beauty of our.

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Speaker 1: Sort of natural environment and the interest of a very

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Speaker 1: rapid growth.

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Speaker 2: The relationship between the United States and China is complex.

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Speaker 2: It's been strained by recent comments from Washington that it

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Speaker 2: wants to de risk itself from the world's second largest economy.

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Speaker 2: But how should a European nation like Greece handle Beijing.

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Speaker 2: I continued the conversation with the Prime Minister Mitsutakis, Premier, Sure,

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Speaker 2: what kind of relationship do you want with China?

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Speaker 1: At frame our relationship with China, you know, within the

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Speaker 1: context of the European Union as a whole, we can

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Speaker 1: work with China and various sisters, but they're also a competitor.

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Speaker 1: There also a rival on many other issues. But I've

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Speaker 1: been advocating for, you know, for a comprehensive European approach

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Speaker 1: vis a vi China. So we don't want to decouple,

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Speaker 1: and we frankly we cannot the couple, but we want

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Speaker 1: to do risk.

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Speaker 3: This means a more.

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Speaker 1: More measured and more intelligent approach visa vi China, which

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Speaker 1: is also relevant for US and China is an important

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Speaker 1: market for our agricultural products. For example, it could be

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Speaker 1: an important market in terms of bringing in Chinese tourists.

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Speaker 1: It's much less important as a source of capital. For example,

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Speaker 1: when you look at the big infrastructure projects and how

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Speaker 1: we funded them over the past years. No capital practically

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Speaker 1: came from China, but we will certainly align our policy

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Speaker 1: with the overall European approach.

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Speaker 3: When it comes to China.

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Speaker 2: And when you say it's impossible to decouple, is that

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Speaker 2: because the codependency is too big on certain ships and manufacturers.

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Speaker 1: I do think that, you know, in a globalized economy,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not so much talking about, you know, the

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Speaker 1: Greek economy, I'm talking about the global economy. The globalized

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Speaker 1: economy is a reality. We want more independence over supply chains,

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Speaker 1: but there's a limit to how much we can.

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Speaker 3: Actually do that.

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Speaker 2: What do you worry most about your economy and Greece

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Speaker 2: and when you look at towards and it's booming, but

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Speaker 2: it also means some of the islands are overcrowded. Is

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Speaker 2: there something that you do?

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Speaker 1: Thank you for asking this question, because I want to

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Speaker 1: make sure that you know, in five years from now,

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Speaker 1: we will not have sacrificed, you know, the beauty of

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Speaker 1: our sort of natural environment and the interest of a

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Speaker 1: very rapid growth. So that's why I'm really focusing on

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Speaker 1: sustainable growth. That's why I will always push for quality

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Speaker 1: over quantity very strict in terms of standards. We are

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Speaker 1: actually looking at our local and regional sort of planning

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Speaker 1: legislation across the country to make sure that we know

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Speaker 1: exactly what we can build and where we can build it.

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Speaker 1: There are parts of Greeks which are have reached situation

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Speaker 1: point and if we have to place restrictions we will

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Speaker 1: in order to protect especially islands which are which are

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Speaker 1: more sensitive.

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Speaker 2: So does that look like a tax if you go

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Speaker 2: on an island or does that look actually as looks.

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Speaker 1: On the restrictions In terms of building, there's only that

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Speaker 1: much we can build on certain islands. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to single them out. We're not there. We're not very

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Speaker 1: terms of thinking of taxes, that's not something that is

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Speaker 1: currently in the cards. But I'm more concerned with, you know,

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Speaker 1: how many people we can actually get on an island

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Speaker 1: and make sure that the island is still functioning. But

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Speaker 1: also for tourists, I'm to have you know, a positive experience,

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Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, when something is overcrowded,

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Speaker 1: people don't necessarily appreciate.

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Speaker 3: So it's not rocket science.

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Speaker 1: For example, we're beginning to do it and planning it

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Speaker 1: to make sure that you know when you have cruise ships,

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Speaker 1: they don't all need to come at the same time,

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Speaker 1: so you can manage the births in a smarter way

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Speaker 1: to make sure that you can get more cruise ships,

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Speaker 1: but also that you know the island doesn't overflow with

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Speaker 1: visitors certain hours a day.

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Speaker 2: Premnister, how much you know time are you going to

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Speaker 2: spend tackling tax evasion?

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Speaker 3: A lot, because this is an important issue for us.

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Speaker 1: It's not just a question of equity, but it's also

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Speaker 1: a question of making sure that we have additional revenues

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Speaker 1: for our schools or our healthcare system. We've made good

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Speaker 1: progress in terms of reducing the VAT gap. We are

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Speaker 1: we being very diligent in terms of making electronic transactions

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Speaker 1: more attractive. COVID also helped us in that direction, and

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Speaker 1: we saw the tangible results and as we sort of

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Speaker 1: digitize the entire sort of supply chain, make it also

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Speaker 1: easier for our tax authorities to be more targeted and

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Speaker 1: smarter in terms of going after tax evasion.

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Speaker 3: So for me, this is a big.

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Speaker 2: Refrustrated that it was just as fast as you thought.

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Speaker 1: It would to a certain extent. Yes, although again in

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Speaker 1: terms of the VAT gap we've made. We've made good progress.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we had a legacy of tax evasion, but

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Speaker 1: it's also this is also something which is very much

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Speaker 1: related to collective trust. People feel that they get, you know,

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Speaker 1: quality public services, there will be more inclined to pay

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Speaker 1: their taxes. But we've also proven that if you actually

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Speaker 1: lower taxes in an economy that has sort of a

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Speaker 1: tradition of tax evasion, that it can actually bring in

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Speaker 1: more revenues. Not to always for all countries. In our

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Speaker 1: cases was actually very much true. So our strategy of

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Speaker 1: gradually lowering taxes has actually worked with and has actually

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Speaker 1: brought in more revenues.

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Speaker 2: Up next, Prime Minister a Mitza Takis and why pushing

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Speaker 2: for LGBTQ rights is one of his priorities.

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Speaker 3: In almost actual people couldn't even give blood. Before we

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Speaker 3: came into power, we still.

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Speaker 1: Had horrible conversion therapies which were technically legal for you know,

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Speaker 1: gay teenagers.

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Speaker 3: I mean really we banned all that and.

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Speaker 1: We will continue to implement our strategies.

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Speaker 2: Greece is one of the main routes into the European

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Speaker 2: Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asian

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Speaker 2: and Africa. In June, hundreds have died or were lost

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Speaker 2: at sea as a fishing vessel prodded with migrants and

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Speaker 2: asylum seekers capsized off the coast of I spoke to

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Speaker 2: the Prime Minister about the tragedy. Prime Coastguards, of course

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Speaker 2: have not been portrayed in the positive lights recently because

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Speaker 2: of micro boats that have sind are you taking action

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Speaker 2: to make sure that doesn't happen again.

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Speaker 3: We've been.

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Speaker 1: Implementing, you know, a migration strategy that I've always described

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Speaker 1: as tough and fair. Our number one priority is for

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Speaker 1: people not to drown at sea, but also to protect

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Speaker 1: our borders.

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Speaker 3: And my theory is very simple. The less people you

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Speaker 3: have at sea, the less.

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Speaker 1: Likelihood that you may have a tragedy like the one

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Speaker 1: that unfolded in international voters. But you know of the

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Speaker 1: off the Greek coast, and we've been able to make

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Speaker 1: the strategy work in the Eastern met We've broken those

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Speaker 1: smugglers networks, and it's very unfair, you know, to to

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Speaker 1: when I look at for example, NGOs are part of

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Speaker 1: the international press. I mean they place emphasis, you know,

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Speaker 1: on the coast Guard, but they don't talk about the

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Speaker 1: smugglers who put these desperate people on a boat that

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Speaker 1: was obviously not seaworthy. Every time there's an incident, there's

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Speaker 1: always an investigation, and even regarding this tragedy, there is

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Speaker 1: an judicial investigation. Obviously I cannot comment on it by

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Speaker 1: pointing the finger at the coast Guard. Our Courst Cuart

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Speaker 1: has saved tens of thousands of people. It's unfair, it's unjust,

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Speaker 1: and it's also wrong as a strategy because at the

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Speaker 1: end of the day, what we don't want is we

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Speaker 1: don't want a pull strategy. So we have to be

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Speaker 1: vigilant in protecting our borders, but we also need legal pathways,

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Speaker 1: either for humanitarian reasons, so for refugees or also for

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Speaker 1: economic migrants. In one of our goals increases to sort

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Speaker 1: of expand labor market participation. And when I look at

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Speaker 1: certain jobs, for example in the agricultural sector, we have

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Speaker 1: difficulties finding people to actually do these jobs. And I

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Speaker 1: would much more prefer as we were, and we're already

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Speaker 1: putting in place these types of programs, for example, to

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Speaker 1: have an arrangement with the countries such as Egypt or

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Speaker 1: Bangladesh where we offer work visas for people to legally

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Speaker 1: work here and they will come and work and they

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Speaker 1: will be insured and they don't need to embark on

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Speaker 1: a dangerous trip. But we will control the policy. We

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Speaker 1: cannot leave this policy. We cannot let this policy be

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Speaker 1: controlled by the smugglers.

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Speaker 2: Promire, do you feel like down by the European Union?

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Speaker 2: Should they be helping you more and trying to deal

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Speaker 2: with the situation also the refugee camps.

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Speaker 1: That I mean the European you knowed to be honest,

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Speaker 1: first all, its changing this approach at the level of

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Speaker 1: the European Council. It is placing much more emphasis on

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Speaker 1: the external aspect of migration, which is essentially border manager.

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Speaker 1: They've also funded a lot of our a lot of

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Speaker 1: our camps. If you go to the islands now you

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Speaker 1: will see ultra modern facilities.

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Speaker 3: You know, five years ago we had the horror of

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Speaker 3: more other under.

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Speaker 1: A socialist government which supposedly was progressive and cared quote

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Speaker 1: unquote about the human conditions of migrants. So there has

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Speaker 1: been support by the European Union. Yes, I would like

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Speaker 1: them to be bolder and also openly finance barriers what

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Speaker 1: we call fences, but other measures to help us protect

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Speaker 1: our our border. And of course you know we're also

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Speaker 1: working with Frontechs. Frontex is not an NGO. Maybe some

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Speaker 1: people in the European Parliament think that Frontec should be

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Speaker 1: an NGO, but Frontecs should not be an NGO.

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Speaker 3: It's a border protection.

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Speaker 1: Unit heavily sort of funded by the European Union. And

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Speaker 1: we're always working, you know, you know, with Frontecs, and

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Speaker 1: whatever issues arise, we always try to cooperate and try.

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Speaker 3: To resolve them.

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Speaker 2: But there's no change in policy on refugees that you see,

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Speaker 2: or again some of that.

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Speaker 3: There has been a gradual change of policy.

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Speaker 1: At the level of the Council, which is most welcomed.

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Speaker 1: Then we love it a lot about it to make

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Speaker 1: sure that we place the external dimension of migration from

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Speaker 1: that center, because we'll be talking a lot about the

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Speaker 1: internal dimension, which is how do we move people once

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Speaker 1: they enter the European Union, who should be responsible, for example,

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Speaker 1: for welcoming, how we're going to have quotas and these

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Speaker 1: are difficult topics, but unless we reduce a number of

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Speaker 1: people who entered the Union illegally, we will not be

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Speaker 1: able to address this problem. But again this is not sufficient.

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Speaker 1: We need to offer legal pathways and we also need

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Speaker 1: to be much more effective when it comes to returns. Premier.

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Speaker 2: You've also done a lot of work on LGBTQ rights.

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Speaker 2: How much will that continue?

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Speaker 3: It will continue.

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Speaker 1: We have an LGBTQ e quality strategy that we're putting

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Speaker 1: in places of work in progress. But we're happy about

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Speaker 1: you know. But some of our initiatives, which also mean

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Speaker 1: a lot to me, you know, almost actual people couldn't

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Speaker 1: even you know, give blood. Before we came into power,

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Speaker 1: we still had horrible conversion therapies which were technically legal

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Speaker 1: for you know, gay you know, teenagers. I mean really

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Speaker 1: we banned all that. Will continue to implement our strategy.

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Speaker 3: It's a long term.

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Speaker 1: Project, but you know, I think Greek society is much

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Speaker 1: more ready and much more mature. It's interesting that all

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Speaker 1: these initiatives have been launched by a center right government

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Speaker 1: and not by the previous government, which theoretically again belong

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Speaker 1: to the left. And I think this is also testimony

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Speaker 1: to the fact that we are a truly progressive government.

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Speaker 2: Will you only reach you know, true equality when you

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Speaker 2: have same sex marriage.

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Speaker 1: It will happen at some point. It is part of

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Speaker 1: our you know, it is part of our strategy. It

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Speaker 1: is a work in it is a working in progress.

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Speaker 1: We have we have civil union already. Uh and at

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Speaker 1: some point, you know this, this strategy will come to

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Speaker 1: your end.

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Speaker 2: How would you describe yourself as a leader? What kind

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Speaker 2: of I mean, You've you know, delivered on a lot

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Speaker 2: of your goals. You've you know, done better than I

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Speaker 2: expecting the polls. What drives you?

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Speaker 1: And that I don't like too much to talk about myself,

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Speaker 1: but I would really like to look at Greece after

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Speaker 1: eight years and say, yes, we've made you big changes.

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Speaker 1: So this is not just about management, it's not just

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Speaker 1: about you know, playing defense. It's really about changing the country.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this country, if you look at its two hundred,

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Speaker 1: your history has gone through spells of what really you know,

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Speaker 1: big changes happened. And I hope that I can make

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Speaker 1: my own contribution in making sure that we completely sort

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Speaker 1: of break out of this sort of spell that really

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Speaker 1: dragged us towards essentially towards the bottom during the second

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Speaker 1: decade of the twenty first century. No, we lost, We

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Speaker 1: lost twenty five percent of our GDP. This was the

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Speaker 1: biggest contraction since people forget about it, since the Second

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Speaker 1: World War. In any OECD country. But it's an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to really change the country. And essentially what I'd like

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Speaker 1: to do is make sure I relea se creative forces.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Greeks are incredibly talented. I want them to

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Speaker 1: be able to prosper in their country and then move abroad.

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Speaker 2: So what's your big dream actually.

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Speaker 3: For Greece to become.

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Speaker 1: To become a protagonist, a global protagonist in those areas

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Speaker 1: where we can be a protagonist, and to be able

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Speaker 1: to catch up in.

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Speaker 3: Those areas where we're still laggards.

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Speaker 1: But and to us address what I consider to be

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Speaker 1: the you know, the three big challenges, which is the environment,

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Speaker 1: you know, the digital challenge, and you know the opportunities

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Speaker 1: and threats of AI. But also for me, probably the

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Speaker 1: most important challenge is inequality, income inequality. You know, at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, I want to look at,

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Speaker 1: you know, the growth of we're delivered and I'll be

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Speaker 1: happy if I see less inequality rather than more. It

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Speaker 1: is always a risk in rapidly growing economies that we

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Speaker 1: actually have more inequality. We've been able to lower inequality

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Speaker 1: over the past four years because we've actively supported those

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Speaker 1: in need, and at the end of the day. It's about,

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Speaker 1: you know, giving opportunity to those who are less privileged.

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Speaker 1: This is what really, you know, excites me and makes

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00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,520
Speaker 1: me work harder when I feel tired. Premier.

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Speaker 2: Do you think that's why people voted for you or

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00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 2: is it because they didn't have a real alternative.

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00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 1: I think that maybe in twenty nineteen people voted for

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00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 1: us because they were fed up with the previous government.

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00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,200
Speaker 1: In this election, I'm pretty sure people voted for us

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00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 1: because they bought into our story and our vision for

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00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,159
Speaker 1: the future. Again, it's unusual to see this level of

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00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,040
Speaker 1: support in a Western democracy, in a multi party system,

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00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,640
Speaker 1: so I think they placed their trust in us, and

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00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 1: we have to reciprocate. So, you know, a big victory,

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00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,240
Speaker 1: it gives us cast for celebration. It probably lasts for

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00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 1: hours rather than days, and then suddenly you have the

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00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,080
Speaker 1: weight of people's expectations on your shoulders, the weight of

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00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,680
Speaker 1: the office on your shoulders, and you tell yourself, look,

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00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,679
Speaker 1: people have given you a mandate for big change, and

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Speaker 1: you'd better deliver.

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Speaker 2: Prem Minister, thank you so much for your time today,

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Speaker 2: Thank you for estine Thank you so much.