Only days after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras brought the PASOK Socialists into an alliance government with his New Democracy Conservatives – which he had said he would never do – the fragile administration has opened a wound after ND Member of Parliament Makis Voridis blamed late Prime Minister and a PASOK founder, Andreas Papandreou, for causing the country’s crushing economic crisis.
Voridis, who left the far-right wing LAOS party to join ND, made his comments during the party’s Congress, drawing immediate heat from PASOK, whose current leader, Evangelos Venizelos, is Samaras’ Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, another former LAOS member who jumped to ND and was named Health Minister to widespread scorn, and former Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis also were outspoken in their criticism of PASOK, reportedly leading Venizelos to call Samaras and complain, with the Premier telling his deputies to muzzle their complaints.
Kathimerini understands that this led to PASOK leader and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos calling New Democracy chief and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to complain about the comments.
Former prime minister and previous PASOK leader George Papandreou also issued a statement defending his father’s record and suggesting that former New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis was responsible for Greece’s public finances going off track during his 2004-2009 premiership.
Papandreou also pointed out that his PASOK government adopted measures in 2010 aimed at restoring fiscal order at a time that Samaras and New Democracy opposed a bailout from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB.
Samaras backed austerity so he could join a temporary coalition and has continued to impose the pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions he rejected before he took office.
Papandreou also made mention of Voridis’ record as an extremist. The former LAOS lawmaker had a reputation for being a strident screamer
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