ND, SYRIZA clash over violence
Three days after unidentified attackers opened fire on the headquarters of Greece’s governing New Democracy party, conservative and left-wing officials clashed again Wednesday over the issue of politically motivated violence.
Giorgos Mouroutis, a spokesman for ND, fired back at Panos Skourletis a day after main opposition SYRIZA’s spokesman spoke of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras having some “far-right aides”. Skourletis made particular mention of Failos Kranidiotis and Chrysanthos Lazaridis.
“When Chrysanthos was thrown into prison by the junta, Skourletis was hiding behind his mother’s skirts,” Mouroutis said on Twitter Wednesday.
Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou attacked SYRIZA officials for allegedly fueling political tension.
“[SYRIZA chief Alexis Tsipras] must first of all bring to heel the anarchist deputy that he still has in his fold, and the cadres and youth party members who brag about the sticks and masks that they keep in their houses,” he said.
The statement appeared to be a reference to SYRIZA MP Vangelis Diamantopoulos, who has come under fire after publicly slamming the recent wave of squat raids.
Meanwhile, Tsipras Wednesday met with President Karolos Papoulias at the Presidential Palace to brief him on his recent meetings with senior German officials in Berlin, particularly German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. On Monday the Greek opposition leader was warned that there is no alternative to Greece’s fiscal adjustment but SYRIZA officials hope to have scored some political points after Tsipras raised the issues of World War II loans and the Siemens bribery scandal.
“A government that questions the inevitability of the memorandum can be victorious,” he said after meeting with Papoulias.
Tsipras Wednesday also met with US Ambassador Daniel B. Smith ahead of his visit to the United States later this month
