Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras yesterday expelled a senior party member from his parliamentary group after he had attacked the government on Twitter for setting aside plans to renegotiate an unpopular bailout.
Nikos Nikolopoulos, a law-maker from the ruling New Democracy party, had already quit as deputy labour minister last month after accusing the government of not boldly pushing for changes to the programme from the Troika of EU and IMF lenders.
“The strategic dead-end is clear. The renegotiation flag was a dream. We have forgotten it. What can people at their limits expect from the Troika? Leniency or punishment?” he tweeted.
He later tweeted: “Our country has had more consecutive years of recession than any other country in the world. This land can’t take it any more.” Even with Nikolopoulos’ expulsion, the government still has solid parliamentary majority. The law-maker was also referred to the party’s ethics committee during parliamentary proceedings yesterday. – (Reuters)