His preference for Costas Karamanlis as the next president of the republic was the most prominent highlight to emerge from former prime minister Antonis Samaras’ interview with the Sunday edition of “To Vima”. The entire interview will be published on Sunday, Nov. 17.
Samaras succeeded Karamanlis, who served as prime minister himself from 2004 to 2009, at the helm of New Democracy (ND) party in late 2009. He was prime minister from 2012 to 2015 at the head of two coalition governments in that period and convincingly lost the January 2015 election to radical left SYRIZA party. Samaras remained as center-right ND’s president until July 5, 2015, announcing his resignation on the heels of a controversial referendum asking voters whether they approved or not of a new bailout agreement with institutional creditors. The “no” vote carried the day by a margin of 2 to 1.
In the Samaras Vima interview, the former PM said he considers Karamanlis as the best choice for president of the republic, which in Greece comprises a ceremonial head of state position that, however, in the past risked triggering a snap election when a majority of Parliament deputies didn’t materialize to elect a new president – as was the case for the snap January 2015 election. Constitutional revision after 2019 eliminated this possibility.
At the same time, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and ruling ND party have carefully avoided speculation on whether the incumbent president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, will supported in 2025 by ruling ND and its deputies for re-election by Parliament. Sakellaropoulou has also avoided any mention of her intentions.
FM should be replaced
Samaras, considered as a “hawk” amongst Greece’s political establishment, also raised eyebrows by demanding the resignation of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, accusing the latter of “appeasement’ in the face of Turkish provocations.
Among others, the former premier said in the interview:
“… a constant ‘appeasement’ of Turkish provocations is not a centrist policy. In this case, for example, he (Kyriakos Mitsotakis) should ‘send home’ those who declare that, in the name of ‘friendship and tranquility’ with Turkey, they’ll tolerate being described as ‘appeasers’. How did this come about? Why should someone who follows the standing national policy be called an appeaser? Such things are never said.”
Samaras’ quip was aimed at a statement that Gerapetritis made last month, when the latter declared that “If we’re to enjoy a peaceful neighborhood, then let them (critics) even call me an appeaser.”
The veteran politician also spoke on the now trendy international debate surrounding a so-called “woke agenda” and the election of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States:
“I wonder, did Trump have to be elected for some people to understand what the woke agenda means for the vast majority of any society? What do the waves of instrumentalized illegal migrants, and the rushed ‘green transition’ mean? – which has created a very resilient (high) cost of living, which nibbles away at incomes and undermines the economy’s competitiveness. These (issues) generated Trump’s big victory. I have, indeed, warned Europe and Greece about all of this, a hundred times, long before Donald Trump reappeared on the scene. At the time some people would look at me funny.”
