Former Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, ousted from New Democracy last week for voting in favor of the government's austerity measures, has told Sunday’s Kathimerini that the conservative party could have taken a more measured stance, while accusing its leader Antonis Samaras of “political speculation”.
Bakoyannis was the only ND deputy who voted for the spending cuts last Thursday. Samaras had instructed his MPs against voting for the measures. “What was I supposed to do?” asked Bakoyannis. “Was I also meant to bet on Greece going bankrupt so I could reap some political gains? That is called political speculation”.
The ex-diplomat has had an uncomfortable relationship with Samaras since he comfortably beat her in a leadership election last November. However, Bakoyannis said that she made every effort to convince Samaras to hold a meeting with the party’s deputies to discuss ND’s stance on the economic crisis, which did not happen.
“I told him that it would be inconceivable to oppose the legislation in principle because passing it through Parliament was a precondition for funds being released”, said Bakoyannis. “I added that we could easily make our objections known and vote against specific measures that we thought were socially unjust”.
There is speculation that Bakoyannis wants to start her own centrist party, but she told Sunday’s Kathimerini that she does not want to create a personal vehicle and that the current climate is not conducive to such a development.
“Citizens feel suspicion, exasperation and even rage for the responsibility that politicians have for everything that has happened and has led us to this situation”, she said.
“Herald Tribune-Καθημερινή”
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