NEWS

SYRIZA decides fate of party MP

SYRIZA was expected to decide Friday whether to expel Petros Tatsopoulos following the MP’s controversial comments about the leftist party’s stance on terrorism.

In comments made earlier this week, Tatsopoulos suggested that members of the party were sympathetic to the now-disbanded November 17 urban guerrilla group. A convicted member of the organization, Christodoulos Xeros, is currently sought by authorities after violating a prison furlough on New Year’s eve.

“There are people within SYRIZA who may be sympathetic to the ideas of these people. I assume that because of their own statements, that they considered Xeros a political prisoner. But this is by no means the dominant view within SYRIZA,” Tatsopoulos told Skai television on Wednesday.

Tatsopoulos has come under fire from members of his own party, while ruling New Democracy, which has in the past attacked SYRIZA of fostering ties to domestic terrorism, said the comments amounted to a “public confession.”

In a posting on Facebook late Thursday, Tatsopoulos said he had offered his resignation to SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras.

The issue would be discussed in a meeting of the presidency of the party’s parliamentary group later Friday.

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