ATHENS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his second term in government will be one of “efficiency and great steps forward” during the first meeting of the new cabinet at the Maximos Mansion on Wednesday, rejecting the slightest signs of arrogance and complacency from government officials.

“We have no right to disappoint the citizens who placed their trust in us,” the prime minister said, while recommending “few words and much work” and stressing that “our government’s work must not be sacrificed on the altar of communication.”

“Our only opponents are the problems and possible mistakes,” he said, noting that “society has handed us the baton of its future” and that “we are starting responsibly but also optimistically.”

Mitsotakis reiterated that the government’s first bill will concern the state and how it will become more efficient and the second will reflect central financial commitments of the entire four-year period, such as the return of Athens and Thessaloniki water companies, EYDAP and EYATH, respectively, to the full control of the public, as they had been placed under the control of the super-fund by SYRIZA.

The prime minister set out hierarchy of the four major priorities of the current four-year period, saying that these were:

– better salaries

– a better public health system

– a better state

– a better life in a strong Greece

He emphasised to his ministers that “the blue dossiers in front of you contain a total of 120 reforms, 79 milestones of the Recovery Fund and 959 operational actions with a four-year horizon.”

“We are servants of the public interest, so we are servants of all citizens,” he noted.

Finally, referring to the election outcome and the entry of many smaller parties into the Parliament, the prime minister pointed out that many formations do not necessarily mean democratic pluralism but often create a political cacophony.