Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Panagiotis Sgouridis submitted his resignation after comments he made about Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the radio.
The deputy, who belongs to junior coalition partner ANEL, said that the prime minister misled farmers during his election campaign by pledging things he could not deliver. “If you don’t promise things, you won’t get votes… some time we must tell the truth. This is the truth,” Sgouridis said characteristically, referring to the pledges Tsipras made to farmers before elected.
The journalist of Maximum 93.6 station asked, :”You mean the prime minister misled them like (previous PM) Samaras?” To that, Sgouridis replied, “Like the previous one. And like the one before that who said that “there is money,” referring to George Papandreou.
The journalist insisted: “So Tsipras misled them like Samaras did?” To that Sgouridis answered: “Like Papandreou before him etc. So, at some point, because the country touched bottom, and because right now I am in an important ministry that tries to boost entrepreneurship, let’s bring back the talk of entrepreneurship.”
The deputy’s comments caused a stir at Maximos Mansion. Reportedly, the prime minister called ANEL leader Panos Kammenos to complain about Sgouridis and discuss the issue.
Sgouridis made a statement saying that out of an interesting 30-minute conversation, the press focused on an unfortunate word and missed the gist of the interview. The deputy also said that Tsipras is neither Samaras, nor Papandreou and that he has called farmers for a dialogue in earnest. He also said that Tsipras is trying to resolve issues that previous prime ministers did not dare touch in fear of the political cost.
The prime minister will decide whether he will accept Sgouridis’ resignation upon his return from Brussels.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
