Follow live the second day of Parliament session on establishing an investigative committee for OPEKEPE. It should be noted that on Tuesday evening, amid intense confrontations, 166 MPs voted in favor of the “blue” proposal to establish an investigative committee for OPEKEPE. The confrontations were intense, with tensions rising dramatically.
Despite the fact that the session did not need to be interrupted, as happened for about 20 minutes during the discussion about referring Kostas Ach. Karamanlis to the Judicial Council for Tempe, Zoe Konstantopoulou was once again the protagonist, as she constantly interrupted Kyriakos Mitsotakis, resulting in Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis intervening.
Meanwhile, after a long time, a fierce confrontation occurred between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Androulakis with exchanges from both sides, something that was intensely commented upon in Parliament corridors, as their clash reached the point of references to the “green” cafes of the ’80s, as well as to the late Andreas Papandreou and Konstantinos Mitsotakis.
Kaklamanis and Konstantopoulou incident in Parliament: “Some opposition you’re doing, if you don’t like me, submit a motion of no confidence”
During Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s opening speech, Zoe Konstantopoulou made constant interventions, posing questions to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with the Prime Minister characteristically stating: “You’re not here to defend the rapists you defend in courts.”
Indeed, his references to integrating OPEKEPE into AADE provoked the reaction of Ms. Konstantopoulou, who stated “they put the wolf to guard the sheep.” The confrontation peaked when the leader of Plefsi Eleftherias directly referred to the two former government ministers: “Will you investigate Voridis and Avgenakis?” The Prime Minister’s reaction was immediate: “You’re not in court to defend rapists,” he said with an intense tone. After repeated interruptions, the Prime Minister addressed Ms. Konstantopoulou again: “Stop braying at last.”
Then, Zoe Konstantopoulou continued shouting and at some point Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis reached the point of saying: “Be quiet at last.” Ms. Konstantopoulou continued shouting, saying she was exercising opposition, with the Parliament Speaker responding: “Some opposition you’re doing.” “Great speaker you are,” Zoe Konstantopoulou replied, with Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis responding: “If you don’t like me, submit a motion of no confidence.” At that moment the Prime Minister intervened saying: “I want to emphasize our absolute support for changing Parliament’s Rules of Procedure and we won’t have scenes like these that degrade the parliamentary process.”
Fierce parliamentary clash between Mitsotakis and Androulakis – References to Andreas Papandreou, the “green” cafes of the ’80s and patronage
A reference by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to earlier statements by the late Theodoros Pangalos, who referring to a meeting with PASOK officials in Crete had described it as a “discussion among thieves,” triggered the intense reaction of Nikos Androulakis. During his speech, the leader of the main opposition turned his fire toward Kyriakos Mitsotakis, saying that “the Prime Minister remembered Pangalos. Why didn’t you remember your father?” “There are many videos on YouTube, if you have insomnia at night,” Nikos Androulakis added.
Immediately after, taking the floor, the Prime Minister launched an attack against Nikos Androulakis, saying that the leader of the main opposition “appeared as a poor copy of PASOK of the 1980s, but without Andreas Papandreou’s charisma.” Moreover, he spoke of à la carte ethics regarding the fact that PASOK’s president supported that some farmers or livestock breeders wrongly “received more” from subsidies, but “they received them themselves.”
“You told us that this OPEKEPE money returned as black political money. Who did the political money go to. These are unfounded accusations, which we reject,” the Prime Minister maintained, while characterizing the main opposition leader’s references to his late father as “ungraceful.” At the same time, he maintained that Nikos Androulakis appeared “irritated.” “You’re always irritated, Mr. Androulakis, but today you turned red,” the Prime Minister characteristically noted.
“Since you referred to my father, let me tell you that previous generations did politics with different rules. I would have believed that our generation would want to leave that behind. You look like a poor copy of PASOK of the ’80s, but without resembling Andreas Papandreou,” he added.
“Personal favors were the way the entire political system functioned. In the 1980s we had such scandals, that of agricultural cooperatives and corn, that’s when the green guards flourished,” K. Mitsotakis said looking toward PASOK’s parliamentary seats.
“Which was the first party in local elections in Mylopotamos, Mr. Chnaris? Why are you shouting? You were moreover a recipient of amounts from the technical solution,” he said addressing PASOK’s Manolis Chnaris, who stood up and began protesting intensely. Indeed, the intervention of Parliamentary Group Secretary Dimitris Biagkis was needed to calm him down.
However, the Prime Minister returned the corruption and entanglement accusations to the main opposition leader, maintaining that the Tempe “montage” proved PASOK’s relations with entanglement systems.
Androulakis’s attack
“I don’t have Andreas Papandreou’s talent and that’s a disadvantage. But I also don’t have your talent for getting involved in corruption and covering up ‘blue’ boys. My difference from you is a great comparative advantage,” Nikos Androulakis replied.
The PASOK president accused the Prime Minister of distorting what he said about farmers’ subsidies, insisted there was an issue with the “forged” Tempe documents, while also referring to the public Skertsos-Pyrgioti confrontation.
