A fierce confrontation has erupted between Pavlos Marinakis and Nikos Androulakis, with the PASOK president calling him a “liar” and “slanderer“, while the government spokesperson in turn calls on him to retract his statements.
The trigger was the interview given by Mr. Marinakis on Wednesday morning, August 27, on Parapolitika 90.1, where among other things he said: “PASOK under Mr. Androulakis is a party that does not vote for non-state universities, a party that votes ‘present’ when MPs are to be referred for high treason because they voted what they voted in Parliament – they may not have liked what they voted for. A party that co-signs with Mrs. Konstantopoulou and adopts the exact same rhetoric, how could it be a negotiating partner, in what way exactly? Therefore, the PASOK we’re talking about, today’s PASOK under Mr. Androulakis, has no relation to the PASOK of Mr. Venizelos and the PASOK of the late Fofi Gennimata“.
A little later, Mr. Androulakis in an interview he gave to SKAI, referring to the government spokesperson, said among other things: “So Mr. Pavlos Marinakis says that PASOK co-signed a text about high treason with Zoe Konstantopoulou. What time is it? 11:20. We’ll finish in 10 minutes, he has time to retract, because he is a liar, he is a slanderer, because PASOK has never signed a text that talks about high treason“.
The full announcement by Pavlos Marinakis
“Dear Mr. Androulakis,
A little while ago, in your television interview you said, referring to me: ‘So Mr. Pavlos Marinakis says that PASOK co-signed a text about high treason with Zoe Konstantopoulou. What time is it? 11:20. We’ll finish in 10 minutes, he has time to retract, because he is a liar, he is a slanderer, because PASOK has never signed a text that talks about high treason’.
To restore the truth, I quote you verbatim what I said in my radio interview on Parapolitika 90.1: ‘PASOK under Mr. Androulakis is a party that does not vote for non-state universities, a party that votes ‘present’ when MPs are to be referred for high treason because they voted what they voted in Parliament – they may not have liked what they voted for. A party that co-signs with Mrs. Konstantopoulou and adopts the exact same rhetoric, how could it be a negotiating partner, in what way exactly? Therefore, the PASOK we’re talking about, today’s PASOK under Mr. Androulakis, has no relation to the PASOK of Mr. Venizelos and the PASOK of the late Fofi Gennimata’. To leave no doubt, here is the audio excerpt from my interview.
Mr. Androulakis, elementary knowledge of the Greek language is sufficient for anyone to understand that I never made the reference – for which you falsely accused me -, but, on the contrary, I attributed to your party’s behavior, among other things: on one hand the vote of your MPs in Parliament, when they voted ‘present’ for colleagues to be referred for high treason, because they voted what they believed, something that constitutes an unprecedented challenge to the constitutionally guaranteed rights of MPs and at another time period (here understanding punctuation will help you) you co-signed with Mrs. Konstantopoulou the motion of no confidence against the government, to which I was obviously referring. You ‘connected’ two different references, putting words in my mouth that I never said.
In this case, there are three possibilities: Either you didn’t hear correctly or your associates exposed you or you are lying and consciously slandering me. In all three cases, I call on you, after listening to the audio of my interview, to retract and withdraw the offensive characterizations against me. Unless you have now definitively acquired the same habits as your new political companions“.
PASOK response to Marinakis: appropriately the master of toxicity and division
The reaction from PASOK to Pavlos Marinakis’ post was immediate, with Charilaou Trikoupi taking up the “gauntlet” and returning the expression about “elementary knowledge of the Greek language“.
“He should have been informed about how the journalist conveyed his statements during the PASOK President’s interview when asking for his comment“, as the Official Opposition states in an official announcement.
“No one is convinced by the government’s communication tricks to supposedly charge PASOK with toxicity. They will not find silent opposition in PASOK in the face of methodical cover-ups of ministers’ responsibilities in successive legal proceedings, in the face of citizen deception and games with institutions“, Charilaou Trikoupi emphasizes and concludes:
“The Government Spokesperson consistently uses offensive and derogatory characterizations in his announcements about the leader of the official opposition. He has deservedly earned the title of master of toxicity and division. Does he express Mr. Mitsotakis’ political aesthetics too or is he acting independently?”, the PASOK announcement concludes.
Full PASOK response to Pavlos Marinakis
Mr. Marinakis, before wagging his finger, given the “elementary knowledge of the Greek language” – his own expression which we return to him -, should have been informed about how the journalist conveyed his statements during the PASOK President’s interview when asking for his comment. And now to the substance: No one is convinced by the government’s communication tricks to supposedly charge PASOK with toxicity. They will not find silent opposition in PASOK in the face of methodical cover-ups of ministers’ responsibilities in successive legal proceedings, in the face of citizen deception and games with institutions.
P.S. The Government Spokesperson consistently uses offensive and derogatory characterizations in his announcements about the leader of the official opposition. He has deservedly earned the title of master of toxicity and division. Does he express Mr. Mitsotakis’ political aesthetics too or is he acting independently?
