ATHENS (AP) – Former Greek prime minister and lawmaker Antonis Samaras was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party over his persistent criticism of government policies.
Samaras, 73, a hard-line nationalist, has criticised Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ approach to negotiations with Turkiye.
He also strongly disapproved of government policy that he considered too “centrist” or “woke”.
The government appeared particularly irked by a Samaras interview to be published in the newspaper To Vima in which he called for the ouster of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis over his conduct of negotiations with Turkiye.
“Samaras… did not just express opinions. He expressed his complete disagreement with all governing policies. Moreover, he adopted extreme lies (about the foreign minister) in an unbecoming and provocative manner,” said government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis in announcing Samaras’ expulsion on Saturday afternoon.
Samaras responded in a lengthy statement, saying, “Arrogance and loss of nerve explain Mitsotakis’ move. Cut off from the party base, he is leading a party that scarcely resembles New Democracy.”
It is not the first time that Samaras has clashed with a Mitsotakis. In 1992, then-prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis, father of the current premier, dismissed Samaras as foreign minister over policy differences regarding the name dispute with what was then the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the present North Macedonia.
In 1993, Samaras and a few like-minded lawmakers left New Democracy, bringing down the Mitsotakis government and ushering in more than 10 years of socialist rule. Samaras founded his own short-lived party, Political Spring.
Samaras succeeded former prime minister Costas Karamanlis as head of the conservatives in 2009, but left the post after an electoral defeat in 2015.
“This time, history will not repeat itself. The government majority continues its course, without Samaras,” said the government spokesman.
“No one has the right to mess with the country’s stability in these troubled times,” said Marinakis.
