Greece’s main opposition party SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance has called on the government to immediately scrap the sms messages citizens need to send to exit their homes.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis should end without delay the obligation to send an SMS in order for someone to go out during the Easter holidays, SYRIZA said in a statement.
“On May 15 they will stop them [sending sms] anyway simply for the sake of the tourists, regardless of epidemiological conditions,” the statement issued on Good Friday noted.
The party strongly criticized also a statement by State Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis who said that “sending sms is a pedagogic measure” for the citizens.
SYRIZA described Gerapatritis’ statement as a “chilling confession that the government was continuing the discredited SMS nonsense in order to ‘train’ the citizens – obviously in a surveillance culture – who for six months have been making sacrifices in a lockdown, only to have them wasted by the incompetence of the ND government.”
PS more and more people I know have stopped sending sms when they go out for several activities in their neighborhood or even within the municipality. And they are not just the young ones but also elderly.
I regard this SMS policy (also in the form of filling in a paper) as a strong sign of authoritarian attitudes of the Greek government.
Of course.
We were promised last year that the government would be led by data not dates.
Well everything lately and certainly for the next two weeks is governed by zero data ….but one date -15th May.
The gradual easing of the lockdown we were also promised is simply going to be one huge 10 day bang.
Embarrassing.
Sms to leave the home should not have been allowed to be applied to the people in the first place. It is removal of our freedom! No other countries (apart from communist countries like China) has done this. No matter how bad their cases.
Other countries like Norway got the court saying that a curfew is too much removal of people’s right for freedom.
If it wasn’t for EU making a law that member countries could do this, we should report the Greek authorities to the European Court of Justice for the deprivation of our liberty.
PS: I have no problem following the measurements, and I was happily wearing my mask even when it was not obligated.
I am not one who doesn’t believe in the covid-19.
I am one of the few who actually have followed the measurements. I have not visited anyone in their homes for 6 months. Which most greek people I know do daily.
Greeks fight for your rights! stop the sms nonsense! We are not skinner rats!
Great idea!! Perhaps you can ask for the requirement of a temporary AMKA number can be dropped as well.
The prime minister has stressed the importance and urgency for everyone to be vaccinated.
I have heard that there are about 14000 people waiting for the illusive AMKA number. That’s 14000 that could now be vaccinated.
I don’t know how correct that figure is, so no one needs to say I’m wrong, I’m just saying what I’ve heard.
The amount of people not being able to get the vaccine is a disaster waiting to happen, and when it goes wrong our fine leaders will wash their hands of it. As much as I still love Greece and the Greek people its time to leave ASAP.