Troubled DIMAR Loses A Lawmaker

The floundering Democratic Left (DIMAR) which is essentially rudderless while trying to decide whether to accept the resignation of its leader Fotis Kouvelis, fell to 13 Members of Parliament on June 6 when one of its lawmakers, Vasilis Economou, quit the party. That came as DIMAR was planning a meeting to decide what to do about Kouvelis, who offered to quit after its disastrous 1.2 percent showing in the European Parliament elections which saw the disintegrating party fail to elect a single member among Greece’s 21 representatives in Brussels. Economou informed the President of Parliament Evangelos Meimarakis in writing of his decision to leave DIMAR’s Parliamentary Group, citing sharp dissent with the party’s leadership, which he said left him unable to stay on under Kouvelis, To Vima reported. Economou also cited “the reluctance of the Democratic Left to cooperate with the rest of the existing Center Left forces, the profound lack of interest in the opinions and positions of MPs who do no agree with dominant opinion and the party majority’s intention to refuse all possibility of a government proposal from the united center left” as the reasons for his departure. DIMAR responded with a written statement, arguing that “with Mr. Economou’s departure [...] a long period of problematic relations and obvious differences, which were dictated by personal choices, is coming to an end”. DIMAR served in the coalition government of Prime Minister and New Democracy Conservative leader Antonis Samaras and the PASOK Socialists before Kouvelis pulled out a year ago in refusal to back the firing of all 2,653 workers at the now-defunct ERT national broadcaster which has been replaced by a new station, NERIT. Kouvelis’ support of austerity measures while serving under Samaras drove the party to new depths even as the Leftist leader defended going against its principles.

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