Marinos Skandamis, Doctor of Law and former Justice Sector Leader of PASOK, is “deeply concerned” about his party’s stance, characterizing the abstention in the relevant vote on suspending the asylum procedure for refugees arriving in our country as “ahistorical and misguided,” which could be interpreted as an inability to formulate a clear position or even as tacit consent to New Democracy’s choices.
Finally, he calls for a reaffirmation of PASOK’s fundamental principles regarding human rights, diversity, and refugee protection, as outlined in the party’s Constitution.
Marinos Skandamis’s statement
“New Democracy has now chosen to implement fascist logic to exclude from asylum application examination those who may prove they need it, leaving Minister Thanasis Plevris free to shamelessly invoke even the restriction of food for foreigners arriving in our country, including mothers with their children.
We know what New Democracy really is and what it pursues. However, I did not understand PASOK – Movement for Change’s abstention on Plevris’s asylum provision. Since this may not be interpreted as an institutional position, as circles in our party want to claim, but unfortunately it can also be interpreted as confusion about our clear position on an issue of inhumane asylum agenda that New Democracy has set.
It can also be interpreted as contributing through our abstention to encouraging New Democracy to violate the European Convention on Human Rights and other international texts, as very clearly commented by Evangelos Venizelos, Panagiotis Ioakimidis and other academics.
To be clear, we must say that what is institutional is what supports the fundamental right to life, dignity and asylum, not what abolishes it.
Let everyone reread our principles. What does the phrase in the Preamble of our Constitution mean that at the center of PASOK-Movement for Change’s policies are the protection and respect of human and individual rights, diversity of minority rights, integration and participation policies for vulnerable social groups, migrants and refugees.
As a member of PASOK, I feel deeply concerned by our at least ahistorical and misguided abstention on Mr. Plevris’s and New Democracy’s policies.”
