"Today, one of the darkest pages in the parliamentary history of our country was written," government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said in an announcement on Tuesday, referring to the non-supportive and even hostile stance displayed by all the opposition parties during a vote held in Parliament's Special Permanent Committee on Parliamentary Ethics on waiving the immunity of 14 New Democracy MPs to face charges of high treason, breach of duty and abuse of power.
He pointed out that the main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Nea Aristera had all abstained, declaring themselves present, while Elliniki Lysi, Niki and Plefsi Eleftherias had even voted in favour of the motion, which was rejected by the ruling majority.
"This despite the fact that article 61 of the Constitution expressly states that an 'MP cannot be prosecuted nor investigated in any way for an opinion or vote that cast while exercising parliamentary duties', while the only instance in which Parliament is able according to the Constitution to give permission to prosecute in for the offence of slander," Marinakis said.
"In other words, the opposition parties adopted the stance that Golden Dawn had adopted in the past about the MPs votes for the memorandums and then Elliniki Lysi about the Prespa Agreement," he added, noting that PASOK's vote, in particular, "lumped it with the forces of extreme populism".
He called on PASOK's leader Nikos Androulakis "to reconsider his party's stance and, ahead of the debate on the matter in the Plenary Session of Parliament next week, even at the last moment, to save appearances."
The 14 ND MPs were those participating in the Parliamentary committee investigating the actions of former deputy minister Christos Triantopoulos with respect to handling the Tempi train collision site. The request to waive their immunity followed a suit filed by the mother of one of the train accident victims, Maria Karystianou, regarding the vote in the committee taken to "fast-track" the proceedings and refer Triantopoulos directly to justice, without further discussion.