The attempt to fill the vacant leadership position at the Hellenic Data Protection Authority ended without result, as the Conference of Presidents convened amid extreme tension. A heated verbal confrontation erupted between the leader of Course of Freedom, Zoe Konstantopoulou, and PASOK — specifically Panagiotis Doudonis and Dimitris Biagkis — as well as the Speaker of the Parliament himself, who was attempting to de-escalate the situation. Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis proposed that Constitutional Law Professor at Democritus University, Alkis Dervitsiotis, be appointed to lead the headless Authority, noting that PASOK itself, through Panagiotis Doudonis, had proposed the same individual six months ago as the new Greek Ombudsman.
PASOK abstained from the vote and insisted on its previously proposed candidate for the Authority, Katerina Syngouna. The main opposition party’s stance drew sharp criticism from the parliamentary majority as well as from the presiding body. Speaking to parliamentary correspondents, Nikitas Kaklamanis argued that PASOK, resorting to “procedural tricks,” “did not even have the courage to vote against a person for whom, six months ago, it had used every glowing adjective in the book! Draw your own conclusions,” he remarked. For her part, Zoe Konstantopoulou stated that her intervention from the floor the previous day, in which she raised the issue, had prevented yet another “unholy collusion” between New Democracy and PASOK. She further argued that the proposed professor sits on the doctoral evaluation committee of resigned Deputy Minister Lazaros Tsavdaridis.
What Nikitas Kaklamanis said about PASOK’s stance
Ultimately, the Conference of Presidents, with tensions running high until the very end, failed to gather the required majority, as only New Democracy voted in favor, PASOK abstained, and the entire remaining opposition voted against. During his intervention, PASOK’s spokesperson Panagiotis Doudonis explained his party’s position and why it chose to abstain. At that point, Nikitas Kaklamanis called him out, stressing that “PASOK is abstaining, throwing under the bus the very person it had itself proposed for another position.”
The exchange
Here is the dialogue that followed:
Panagiotis Doudonis: Ms. Konstantopoulou played the majority’s game, shouting and engaging in bullying. The session from six months ago should be resumed. There is a majority behind Ms. Syngouna — everything else is just a PR stunt.
Nikitas Kaklamanis: And your vote?
Panagiotis Doudonis: We are not voting.
Zoe Konstantopoulou: He’s a victim of bullying and won’t vote…
Nikitas Kaklamanis: When you become Speaker of the Parliament again, you can chair the debate!
Panagiotis Doudonis: We are not participating in the vote — the process that was interrupted on the pretext of Ms. Konstantopoulou’s outbursts is anti-parliamentary.
Nikitas Kaklamanis: So you are abstaining from the vote?
Panagiotis Doudonis: The candidate is Ms. Syngouna, who also has the majority.
Nikitas Kaklamanis: I have the right to put forward a different proposal!
Zoe Konstantopoulou: He does whatever he wants…
Nikitas Kaklamanis: I understand the difficult position you are in. What is your vote?
Panagiotis Doudonis: We are not participating in the vote.
Nikitas Kaklamanis: I had to ask you ten times. PASOK is abstaining, throwing under the bus the very person it had proposed for another position.
Panagiotis Doudonis: Are candidates some kind of master key? A key that opens every door?
Dimitris Kairidis: We all understand what is going on here…
Zoe Konstantopoulou: The image of PASOK is pitiful — you wanted to quietly push through yet another backroom deal.
Zoe Konstantopoulou’s reaction
At that point, Zoe Konstantopoulou launched a fierce attack on PASOK, accusing the party that her intervention from the floor the previous day had “exposed” them and “prevented yet another collusion.” “You were hoping to quietly push through yet another backroom deal. The image of PASOK — an opposition party by default — is pitiful. Sit there in your little chairs. It plays the game of horse-trading like a bad actor,” said Zoe Konstantopoulou, with Panagiotis Doudonis responding: “You are the ones playing the horse-trading game! I am not afraid of you — be absolutely certain of that!” “By exposing you, I managed to stop a shameful backroom deal from going through,” Zoe Konstantopoulou shouted at that moment.
Nikitas Kaklamanis attempted to lower the temperature
At that point, Nikitas Kaklamanis, attempting to calm things down, remarked: “Is this the level befitting two colleagues with your education?” The confrontation continued both in the Conference of Presidents and in the Plenary session, with Zoe Konstantopoulou insisting that PASOK “is in cahoots with New Democracy” and Panagiotis Doudonis responding that she is “Mitsotakis’s biggest supporter” and that “nobody is afraid of her”:
Zoe Konstantopoulou: Why are you giving Mr. Doudonis the floor for a second time — because you have a deal? Things like that used to only happen with tanks!
Panagiotis Doudonis: You are New Democracy’s crutch with the way you handle the committees!
Zoe Konstantopoulou: You have a deal with them! And so does your leader! They have you in their pocket, unfortunately, and they drip-feed scandals about you one at a time…
Panagiotis Doudonis: We are not afraid of you — neither we nor the Parliament! Parliament is not afraid of you!
