Georgoulis case: What New Democracy and PASOK are saying about SYRIZA

SYRIZA is attempting damage control fom the backlash caused by the case of Alexis Georgoulis, who was expelled from the party in order to facilitate the investigation being carried out against him by the Belgian authorities, at a time when both New Dempcracy and PASOK are weighing their public stance . The government and PASOK are also exorcising any accusations of political instrumentalization of such a sensitive issue. The dominant assessment is that the official opposition is entering a stressful cycle of introversion before the elections.

However, as it appears from the public positions of party cadres, the political opposition includes not only the manipulations of SYRIZA against the background of the complaint against the former MEP, but also more broadly the positions of each side on its social policy and human rights.

Zero tolerance

SYRIZA insists that the party’s reaction was immediate, while the dimensions of the issue are such that Alexis Tsipras could not not take a position during his tour of Lavrio, sending a signal of zero tolerance. “For us, there are no “yes buts” in matters of gender-based violence, in matters of violence against women. No tolerance, no cover-up, no matter how high someone is,” was his clear message.

At the same time, New Dempcracy and even more furiously PASOK attacked Koumoundourou, among other things implying that SYRIZA knew about the case and that after the revelations tried to downgrade it. Indicative is the first reaction of New Democracy, which pressed with questions such as “what exactly is the complaint about? Did it happen today for the first time?’ and their assessment that SYRIZA is trying to cloud the picture.

“No to political speculation”

The official line for the government, however, is “no to political speculation”, with the tone set by the government spokesman Yiannis Economou arguing that “we will not instrumentalize, we will not make characterizations, we will not generalize”. He stood meaningfully on the “difference with which we manage such cases in relation to the official opposition is obvious to the whole of society” – commonly accusing SYRIZA of abusive… hashtags, slanders, generalizations in other cases.

Government and party officials will take a stand at every opportunity to defend their social policies and signals against gender-based violence. Indicative are the statements of Deputy Minister Maria Syregela who accused “SYRIZA of lies through Ms. Kasimati’s mouth” regarding the protection structures for victims of gender violence. “The structures to deal with gender and domestic violence were not created during the period of SYRIZA’s government. Of the 44 counseling centers operating today, only 1 was opened under SYRIZA, while a hostel for abused women was also shut down during that period,” Syringela posted on Facebook, accusing SYRIZA of only paying lip service to social policy.

PASOK sees no mitigating circumastances for SYRIZA as they ascribe the main opposition for leaks that harm the complainant or that give political dimensions to the case. PASOK’s press representative Dimitris Mantos spoke of “alleged rrights activists from SYRIZA who are fighting for the protection of human rights”, saying that “they are the same ones who rushed to leak names, effectively violating any concept of criminal pretrial proceedings”.