by Aggelos Skordas
Addressing the Greek Parliament during Friday’s debate on a no-confidence motion against the SYRIZA-led coalition government tabled after the provisional ‘Macedonia’ name agreement reached between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his FYROM counterpart Zoran Zaev, far-right Golden Dawn MP Konstantinos Barbarousis urged the Greek Armed Forces to apply what their oath dictates and arrest Tsipras, National Defense Minister Panos Kammenos and President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
“Since the political leadership of the country is not legislating in the interests of the nation but their own personal interests, I call on the military leadership of the country to honor their oath. To arrest Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, [National Defense Minister] Panos Kammenos and [President] Prokopis Pavlopoulos to prevent this treason! Your heads in Prespes [where the agreement between Athens and Skopje is scheduled to be signed by the Foreign Ministers Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov]” Barbaroussis said.
Following Barbarousis provocative remarks, his party was forced to expel him, while Supreme Court Prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou ordered an investigation for possible treason charges. The investigation comes after National Defense Minister and junior coalition ANEL leader Kammenos, along with his Alternate Minister Fotis Kouvelis filed a lawsuit against Barbaroussis and the far-right Golden Dawn party. Dimitriou has ordered the head of the First-instance Court Prosecution Department, Ilias Zagoraios, to launch an investigation and also passed on related articles in the press.
Meanwhile, following the turmoil Barbarousis statements caused, Golden Dawn formally renounced the MP’s positions and expelled him with an official statement pressed by the party’s leader Nikos Michaloliakos. Nevertheless, Golden Dawn’s parliamentary group applauded Barbarousis while he was leaving the Parliament’s podium and Michaloliakos’ decision to sack him was taken in the face of a serious possibility that the prosecutor will press charges against his entire parliamentary group and the party.
“Due to the statement of the MP Konstantinos Barbaroussis, a statement that is outside Golden Dawn’s policy lines, I have decided, with the agreement of the party’s entire parliamentary group the following: MP Konstantinos Barbaroussis is expelled from the party group”, Michaloliakos stated minutes after his MP’s ruinous remarks.
On his behalf, Parliament President Nikos Voutsis urged the parliamentary bodies to drastically intervene. Therefor, the Greek Parliament unanimously agreed to deprive all Golden Dawn MPs of the right to speak and participate in the debate on the censure motion, activating Article 79 of the parliamentary regulations.
“Today in the Greek Parliament the masks have fallen. The political force Golden Dawn openly called for a coup against the polity, made a call for a military coup and did so with a nod from the majority of Golden Dawn’s parliamentary group. Clearly, we find ourselves before an escalation that is absolutely deliberate and planned, divisive, and which seeks to provoke violent incidents and divisions today, tomorrow and on Sunday”, Voutsis said on the incident, adding that such actions cannot be tolerated. This cannot be accepted, Voutsis added, while announcing that he was immediately calling the parliamentary bodies “for the non presence of these gentlemen and ladies in this parliament, at least until the end of this process, after which we will see”.
“Nobody has the right and we will not allow anyone to question the respect of democratic principles within the armed forces. All the members of the armed forces serve and uphold the Constitution and the laws of the state, and swear an oath to serve the democratic polity. There are no longer any ghosts of the past, which exacted such a heavy cost from the country”, Kammenos said after he filed a lawsuit against Barbarousis.
The Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) also reacted to the far-right MP’s suggestion: “The Armed Forces are committed solely to the fulfillment of their mission, as enshrined in the Constitution and the existing institutional framework”, is said in an official press release issued on Friday.
Following Barbarousis’ ouster Golden Dawn -with members of which are already on trial facing criminal organisation charges after a series of illegal activities and attacks on migrants and leftists, including the murder of rapper and activist Pavlos Fyssas (aka Killah P) on 17 September 2013- now holds 15 MP seats in the 300-seat Parliament.
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