What led to Thursday’s Cabinet ousters
Two of the PM’s closest associates were asked to resign for attending the ‘wrong’ social event
The resignations of the minister of state, Stavros Papastavrou, and the deputy minister to the prime minister, Yiannis Bratakos, last Thursday has been attributed to their attendance at the “wrong” social event.
The event turned out to be more than just social, as four days later it led to the ouster of two of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ closest associates.
According to people who know the two lawmakers, they always shared their plans with the prime minister. In this instance, however, given Mitsotakis’ absence in Canada, it is speculated that they might have attended the contentious “social event” on their own accord in an effort to ease tensions between the government and the publishing group that had released the story about the altered audio between train officials on the evening of the February 28, 2023, rail tragedy in Tempe, Central Greece.
The question of whether Mitsotakis was aware of the visit was settled, according to government sources, by his address to Parliament on Thursday, in which he made it clear he was not associated with “business interests.”
This message was deemed to have been undermined by Papastavrou and Bratakos’ visit last Sunday evening to the home of the publisher of the newspaper that had published a story regarding the motion of no confidence in the government. Other sources insisted, however, that the visit had been preceded by an explicit intra-governmental understanding at the top level.
The two prime ministerial aides were charged with appearing in a group of more than 10 people, thus exposing themselves to leaks.
Another source, however, clarified to Kathimerini that the social part of the event was preceded by a private conversation, the results of which were forwarded and received with satisfaction.
However, Mitsotakis returned to Greece from Canada on Tuesday morning. A day later, it was reported that his two close associates had been at the headquarters of the “business interests” providing fodder for PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis who submitted the motion of no confidence against the government.
The prime minister then concluded that the meeting attended by his associates merited special attention. He summoned both associates to his office.
What exactly was said is unknown, but the meeting certainly did not go well. But no one knew a divorce was imminent. Mitsotakis accepted their resignations a few hours before he took the podium of Parliament on Thursday, so that he could make his speech unencumbered.
