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Antonis Samaras was kicked out of ND after his interview with “Vima tis Kyriaki”. “He puts himself, for the second time after 1993, outside the ND. After all, that’s what he was after. But this time history will not repeat itself. The governing majority steadily continues its course, without Mr. Samara. Nobody has the right to play with the stability of the homeland in these troubled times,” said government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis.
He also emphasized that former prime ministers have the privilege of expressing their opinions but Mr. Samaras expressed complete disagreement with the government policy, adopted extreme lies, distorted statements of the foreign minister, claimed that the leaders of Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Albania were having fun and spoke about the presidential election while the debate is untimely and insults the institution.
The former Prime Minister’s response was immediate, accusing Kyriakos Mitsotakis of arrogance and lack of composure: “arrogance and the obvious lack of composure explain Mitsotakis’ move. Cut off from the grassroots, he leads a party that looks a little like New Democracy.”
He asked to be told where he is wrong and wonders “in Greek-Turkish, where just yesterday the responsible general director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs resigned? In the difficulty of the citizens to cope with the accuracy? In the woke agenda, which while he himself brought it to Greece, after Trump’s election he suddenly talks about the tyranny of the minority? Maybe at Novartis? Or maybe because I nominated Costas Karamanlis for President of the Republic?».
He concluded by stating that “I sacrificed everything for the country, even my health. But no one can force me to sacrifice my conscience. The judge of all of us will be the people and history.”
How we got to Samara deletion
When the Samaras interview in “Vima tis Kyriaki” arrived at noon on Saturday at Maximos, there was an emergency meeting between close associates of the Prime Minister. Mr. Mitsotakis was deeply annoyed and it showed. For the first time he seemed, his associates said, so disturbed.
He was specifically annoyed about the spikes left by Mr. Samaras about the President of Cyprus who was “having fun” with the President of Turkey and the Prime Minister of Albania, he was annoyed because, as he said, he insisted on an untimely discussion about the election of the President of the Republic, which, as he said, constitutes an insult to the person and the institution of the head of state. Following, as his colleagues used to say… Latinopoulou, the first to propose Karamanlis for President of the Republic.
The Prime Minister, terribly annoyed, accepted suggestions, not only from his colleagues who participated in this informal meeting, but also from others: “The news bulletins cannot come out tonight only with the interview of Samaras”, some said, while there were also suggestions that said either to say nothing or to declare the… institutional that “the former prime minister has his views”. In the end, this “institutional” only made it into the first line of Pavlos Marinakis’ announcement: “We have said many times that former Prime Ministers have the special privilege of expressing their opinions and concerns on policy issues from time to time.”
The issue of the deletion, that is, the second deletion of Mr. Samara from ND: “It cannot go unanswered, the announcement was harsh, there needs to be an equally harsh response directly.” The Prime Minister asked for other opinions besides Maximus. Some said that the fate of Antonis Samaras has something to do with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he insists on, recalling that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also “reprimanded” him from Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, when he was prime minister.
The Prime Minister had an appointment at his home and left, saying he would think about it and return at 5pm. Mr. Marinakis together with the Prime Minister’s associates went to a nearby restaurant to have lunch, with the cancellation announcement in hand. They were just waiting for the OK from the Prime Minister. At about 4.30pm, they got the OK from the Prime Minister to release the cancellation announcement.
The six points for erasing Samara
Government sources referring to the deletion of Samara, focused on the following six points:
1. Mr. Samaras insisted on the insulting distortion of the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Gerapetritis about alleged “compromise”, adopting the methods of “cutting and tailoring”, which the government had repeatedly denounced.
Already on October 7th, after all, the government representative Pavlos Marinakis, in the briefing of the political editors, had emphasized the real and only interpretation of the minister’s statements. Repeating his true formulation, which was completely different: “If it is to do good to my country and to succeed without harming my country even in the slightest, to defend its interests, while by some I will be characterized as a concessionaire, then let’s characterized”.
So nothing to do with “concessions”. However, Mr. Samaras in his interview adopted the insidious misinterpretations of some circles. In fact, in a defiant mood, he called on the prime minister “to send home those who declare that in the name of friendship and tranquility with Turkey, they should also be characterized as underdogs”.
The government has a proven track record of defending national sovereign rights in practice. He does not accept patriotism lessons from anyone. As for “concessions”, they are nothing more than science fiction scenarios, which recently even opposition MPs don’t dare to articulate.
2. Mr. Samaras also blatantly accused the Prime Minister and at the same time insulted the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, saying that the two leaders were allegedly “making fun” of Turkish President Erdogan and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. When everyone saw and knows that the specific incident concerned a ten-minute conversation, on the sidelines of the Summit in Budapest.
Mr. Does Samaras consider the fact that for the first time in the 50 years since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a Turkish President spoke with the official President of the Republic of Cyprus, “a coincidence”? A state, in fact, which Turkey supposedly does not recognize? Personal fanaticism sometimes becomes national myopia.
3. Mr. Samaras also accused the government and the prime minister of talking to Turkey. However, he himself, as prime minister in the period 2012-2014, had met with Erdogan 4 times. And during his own administration, there were 6 rounds of exploratory contacts with Ankara.
All this, while at the time Turkey supported its ahistorical and illegal positions. It raised “grey area” issues. He maintained the Army of Occupation in Cyprus. He threatened Greece with a casus belli. While its fighters violated our national airspace on a daily basis. And yet, Mr. Samaras was meeting Erdogan…
4. Mr. Samaras in the untimely discussion in which he insisted on following up on the election of the President of the Republic also involved the former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. From the environment of the latter, however, they stated that “there was no pre-negotiation”. It thus proves that it was an initiative despite the government’s position and despite Mr. Karamanlis. An initiative, in fact, not even original, as it is a repetition of an idea that Mrs. Latinopoulou had.
The decision on the Presidency of the Republic will be announced exclusively by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the right time, defending the prestige of the institution and the face of the President.
5. Mr. Samaras finally expressed his complete disagreement with the entire government policy, adopting extreme lies and distortions. The content of his positions as well as the style in which he invests them are outside the framework of the government’s policy which has popular approval. But also outside the institutional framework of responsibility that the position of a former Prime Minister and political leader requires. Naturally, therefore, he himself, for the second time, is placed outside N.D.
Those who envision a shrunken New Democracy to the extent of 18%, should consider that with the Mitsotakis strategy the ND won three national elections with percentages of the order of 40%. And those who ask for a government captive of interests and internal associations, forget it. History does not repeat itself. And when this is attempted, it takes the form of a farce.
6. The Mitsotakis government is the one that strengthened our country on a defensive, diplomatic, geostrategic and economic level. It is the government that strengthened our defense force like never before with the supply of Rafale fighters, Belharra frigates and the order of F 35s, shielded our borders on the Evros and the islands, signed the EEZ definition with Egypt and Italy, extended the 12 miles in the Ionian and strengthened Greece with strategic defense partnerships, as happened with France and the United States.
The governing majority steadily continues its course for the implementation of its program, without Mr. Samara. For better wages and pensions. An upgraded SSY. And a digital state, at the service of the citizen. No one has the right to play with the stability of the motherland in these troubled times.
The potential domino of developments
With the deletion of Samara, conditions are being created, even for a potentially governmental crisis, with many possibilities remaining open.
The interest is focused on the stance that the deputies who are close to the former Prime Minister will take in the future. It is estimated that there are less than ten and it remains to be seen whether they will continue to express the harsh line of criticism towards the government, whether the Prime Minister will tolerate this or whether they will voluntarily become independent, with the risk of even overthrowing the government or, in any case, a significant weakening of the government majority.
All eyes are obviously on the passing of the budget in mid-December and on whether the unity of the ND’s KO will be maintained, while it can be considered certain that Antonis Samaras’ attacks against Kyriakos Mitsotakis will now be fierce.
Under these circumstances, interest is also focused on Kostas Al. Karamanlis and the stance he will take, given that he had sided with Antonis Samaras for a long time and abandoning the tactics of silence of the previous years.
The next steps
The president of the party’s parliamentary group and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis refers Mr. Samara to the Ethics Committee with the question of deletion, with a letter that he sends to the chairman of the Committee.
The Commission is then expected to meet and decide. The decision is then passed to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who in turn will send the letter with the decision of the New Democracy committee to the speaker of the Parliament – which according to information is expected to happen on Monday – Kostas Tasoulas.
#deletion #Samara #background #straw
What are the potential implications of Samara’s deletion from ND on the party’s internal cohesion and public perception?
To what extent do you think Samara’s deletion from ND will impact their ability to maintain political stability and unity within the party? How does the government’s cancellation announcement address his specific criticisms and opinions? Do you believe that Samara’s statements were an attempted power play within the party or an honest expression of concern about national interests? Should Samara’s personal views be taken into consideration when making important foreign policy decisions? What potential consequences could arise if Samara chooses to continue voicing his disagreements publicly? In light of these events, how did the Samaras-Mitsotakis relationship deteriorate, and what role did personal egos play in their conflict? how do you think other political parties will react to Samara’s deletion, and will it have any significant impact on public opinion or upcoming elections?
