Mitsotakis demands expulsion of dissenting MP from ND parliamentary group

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has demanded the expulsion of New Democracy MP Marios Salmas, a frequent critic of his government, from the ruling party’s parliamentary group.

The Prime Minister, who is in New York attending the annual United Nations General Assembly, sent a letter Saturday to MP Ioannis Tragakis, president of the party’s disciplinary commission, demanding the expulsion.

Salmas, who had riled Mitsotakis at a parliamentary group meeting after June’s European elections by telling him he “is serving the few instead of the many” crossed the line one final time Friday, when he appeared in several TV shows to accuse the government of manipulating bids for catering services in the Ministries of Culture and Health.

Back in June, Mitsotakis had replied sharply to Salmas’ criticism, saying that he “would not tolerate any innuendo.” Salmas’ insistence on challenging the government’s ethics was what prompted the reprisal against him alone among dissenting conservative MPs.

Salmas is considered a member of the party’s populist wing. Last February, he was among several lawmakers who refused to vote the legalization of same-sex marriage, a government-sponsored bill that passed thanks to opposition support. Earlier this week, he and other 10 MPs from the populist wing tabled a parliamentary question calling out the government on the fate of delinquent debtors allegedly being at the mercy of collecting agencies to whom banks have transferred non-performing loans, prompting a detailed rebuttal from the Finance Ministry.

Salmas’ expulsion, to be officially confirmed by the party’s Code of Conduct commission – its official name – Monday, will reduce the ruling party’s parliamentary group to 156 in the 300-member Parliament. New Democracy elected 158 MPs in the last national election, in June 2023. Another MP and former minister, Lefteris Avgenakis, was officially expelled from the parliamentary group in July, following footage showing him assaulting an airport employee

Salmas, 56, a doctor, has served as a New Democracy MP continuously since 2000. He was deputy health minister for a short time in 2009 and alternate health minister in 2012-13.