Trikala’s Youth Council with the support of the Municipality (Mr. StefanosVavylis, who is an elected Municipal representative and Mr, Michalis Lappas, who is the Vice Mayor of Education, Sports and Culture supported the youth council throughout this process), organized a very interesting event on the 12 of May 2023. Taking into consideration that the Greek National Elections will take place on the 21st of May, the youth council had a Parliamentary debate.
6 Representatives from 6 different political parties participated and were asked to give answers on questions prepared by the youth council and addressed by them during a discussion that lasted more than 3 hours.
Some of the topics that the youth council addressed are the following:
- Thoughts and political framework on the existing admitting system for youngsters to enter Universities
- Policies regarding the very high rent prices incities that house the country’s universities
- In relation to the mental health issues that plague young people, inside and outside the school units. What policies are they considering to carry out towards this problem?
- Policies towards resolving the problem of the undermine of the drama school of the national theatre graduates.
- Young graduate’sunemployment in the city of Trikala has been galloping for several years. What are they thinking of doing to reduce unemployment among the city’s youth so they feel safe living in our city? Are they thinking of any interventions to solve the problem of unregistered/ black market employment?
- Some of the effects of climate change in the region are an increase in fires and water scarcity. What policies do they plan to pursue in the direction of climate neutrality?
- Since the period of the pandemic (Covid-19), the phenomenon of significant drug shortages has been observed. Thought and actions about possible ways to solve such a serious issue?
- Some of the problems faced by people with disabilities are difficulty in accessing public spaces, public buildings and means of transport, discrimination in the working environment and difficulty in finding work. In the context of improvement, are there any policies that they intent to implement?
- Their position and thoughts towards the term femicide. Do they have in mind policies that will address this matter? Are they planning to take measures towards reducing the time it takes for judicial decisions to be made?
- Are they thinking of ways to reduce the phenomenon of police arbitrariness in Greece?
- Do they intend to increase the awareness of the local communities on the issues of the LGBT+ community and, at the same time, do they intend to legalize civil marriage and adoption for same-sex couples in Greece?
- There is a great disillusionment of young people towards the country’s political system after the tragic train accident in Tempe. What do they have to say to convince all the youth to come and vote in this election and what pledges can they give to prevent something so tragic from happening again in the future.
It goes without saying that all 12 questions were to the point. None of the political representatives was informed in advance about the topics of the questions and each one had 1,5 minute to make his/ her statement.
Lastly the whole discussion was also video streamed. One can watch it on line here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEM0IlXayQ
