Civil war in the Southwest for Bogdanos: The “hard” right wing is fighting back

Η deletion of Konstantinos Bogdanos by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was the occasion for a civil war in the New Republic, as it brought personal and ideological contradictions to the surface.

Due to the civil war and anti-communist rhetoric of the MP for Athens East, but also as it was the umpteenth foul, after the “yellow card” from Maximos for the misery with the publication of the names of infants, the deletion for the first time in two years of government of a member of the parliamentary group was a one-way street for Mitsotakis.

But it has, de facto, opened the door to Aeolus, as the far right wing does not seem to easily digest this decision of the Prime Minister, while at the same time the fact that the deletion came after the “emptying” of Mr. Bogdanos in Parliament by the Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, in a move that many, inside and outside the Southwest, interpreted as another attempt to be presented as dolphin and spokesman for the centre-right wing.

The Minister of Development, Adonis Georgiadis He even nailed Mr Dendias, saying: “I don't play the president and I don't like to be played by others.” The Foreign Minister responded by addressing SYRIZA, but for the sake of listening to Georgiades, stating that his actions were the product of his close cooperation with the Prime Minister.

The background of Dendias' intervention

Mr. Dendias, of course, obviously had not de facto consulted with Mr. Mitsotakis before “emptying” Mr. Bogdanos on the spot in the Parliament., but considered that he had moved in the spirit of the Prime Minister's logic, who had warned the MP for Athens I with deletion. He reportedly considered that if he did not respond to Bogdanos' extreme rhetoric, both he and ND would be exposed.

In fact, according to reports, after yesterday's confrontation in Parliament, Mr Bogdanos approached Mr Dendias in the gallery, asking for explanations. The Foreign Minister replied that both the content and the timing of his statements were wrong.

However, many in the Southwest were annoyed both by the “leading” appearance of Dendias, and because he did not respond to the accusations of the KKE MP Thanasis Paphilis about dosilogos. The response from Dendias' side is that he had the right and obligation to comment on the statements of the ND MP, since as a representative of the government he was accountable for its own affairs, while it is a different thing to respond to a political opponent.

It is recalled that Mr Bogdanos said yesterday in Parliament: “I remember Grivas of EOKA, who said that we had three enemies, the British, the Turks and the communists. But the worst were the communists.” And argued that anti-communism is a tendency of liberalism.

However, the MP for Athens appeared unrepentant despite his deletion and argued that clear political positions come at a cost, thus attempting to appear as a “hero” to a right-wing audience. Meanwhile, other reports had Mr Bogdanos anxious about his re-election in the difficult Athens A and others said that he was third in secret polls, while some scenarios wanted him to be in contact with MPs of similar views, either for the creation of a new party to the right of the South-West or for the formation of a “far-right faction” within the South-West.

A question of... space and time for the right wing

The embarrassment of executives who also belong to the extreme right wing of the Southwest for the deletion of Bogdanos was obvious. The Health Minister, Thanos Plevris, who is also elected in Athens and therefore has votes to separate with Mr. Bogdanos, focused on... timing and not on the substance of the statements of the deleted MP.

“It is one thing to disagree with communism and another to express yourself in this way about communists. We are not discussing a historical event, such as the civil war, where everyone has their own opinion. On the day when Tsipras was in a position of weakness over the Greek-French agreement, Bogdanos cannot open such an issue,” Plevris told Open in a huff.

The member of the Southwest, Konstantinos Kyranakis, who yesterday asked... explanations for the deletion of Bogdanos, today attempted to lower his rhetoric, saying that explanations were given with briefing notes to journalists and the blue members, but in essence, also stood on the chronology of the statements of the deleted MP, while he was quick to give his own interpretation of both Mitsotakis' decision and Dendias' intervention.

“After the explanations have been given and because I have known Kyriakos Mitsotakis for 10 years and have worked with him, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a man who, in discussions we have had in the past, has told me that he detests references to the civil war, that the past is in the dustbin and that we are looking to the future,” he said: “In politics it matters where and when you say your opinion and not so much what it is,” recalling that the historic Greece-France agreement was discussed yesterday in the relevant committee of the parliament.

Economou: Dendia's reaction was the reaction that a minister of Mitsotakis' government should have had

Ο government spokesman, Yannis Economou, meanwhile, told SKAI that the Prime Minister, as soon as he was informed of the events yesterday, immediately suspended Mr Bogdanos from the CoM. He recalled that just a few weeks ago there was a clear warning and added: “We are separated by an abyss with the KKE, but a member of the Southwest cannot say that the communists are worse enemies of the homeland than the Turks, using references from the past.”.

“Our party, from its founding declaration by Constantine Karamanlis until now, is future-oriented, honours its history and has one basic value in mind: What unites is patriotic,” the government spokesman also stressed.

On the issue of the participation of the member of the Southwest, Zisi Tzikalaya and the head of the Prime Minister's press office in Thessaloniki, Maria Antoniou, at the event at the Vichy, responded diplomatically, saying that these events have been going on for decades and that if representatives of criminal organisations were involved, politicians and organisers should react.

Mr. Economou also argued that the difference of the Southwest is that it clearly reacts to such incidents like that of Mr. Bogdanos: “There was a SYRIZA MP who called the New Democracy a party of doxologists and a SYRIZA MP who said that 17N had a vision and did not turn up its nose”, he commented and added: “We are not fishing in murky waters or trying to cannibalize history.”.

Asked whether the Foreign Minister's attitude influenced Mitsotakis“ decision, Mr.Economou replied, ”The Prime Minister had warned in a clear way and on matters of principle he was specific and clear. Dendias' reaction was the reaction that a minister in Mitsotakis' government should have had.".

While he downplayed yesterday's statements Kyranakis and commented that the facts speak for themselves, the Southwest's CO does not need warnings, as it knows which party and which area it represents.