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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Samaras Asks Deputy Minister to Resign after Insults in Parliament

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras asked for the resignation of Education Deputy Minister Georgios Stylios on Thursday over abusive comments against Greek Communist Party (KKE) MP Liana Kanelli. Stylios made the comment in parliament during talks on education in Greece. The KKE MP commented on a Stylios’ remark on the subject of student malnutrition. The deputy minister said that all students get a piece of fruit every day and Kanellis said that the deputy minister’s remark was like Marie Antoinette’ famous “let them eat cake” phrase. Reacting to Kanelli’s comments, Stylios said the MP was “seeking to turn me into Kasidiaris,” in reference to an incident which occurred during a live television show when Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris threw a glass of water at SYRIZA’s Rena Dourou, now Attica governor, and then slapped Kanellis over an argument on Greek oil reserves. “Mrs. Kanelli wants to turn me into a Kasidiaris, but I will not turn into a Kasidiaris. You need a Kasidiaris, Mrs. Kanelli! But Stylios will not be a Kasidiaris! You should know that,” were Stylios’ exact words. The KKE MP answered, “You were always a Kasidiaris,” implying that Stylios’ behavior is fascist. Kanelli reported the argument to parliamentary president Evangelos Meimarakis who condemned the deputy’s remarks and apologized to Kanelli and the Greek Communist Party. All political parties rushed to condemn Stylios’ comments and Samaras asked for the deputy’s resignation as soon as he heard the reports. Stylios later publicly apologized for his comments, saying that he got carried away. “It was my mistake to refer to Mr. Kasidiaris’ name and his actions, which I condemn.”


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com