Ex ND PM Karamanlis shows “red card” to Mitsotakis over wiretapping scandal

Former New Democracy prime minister Kostas Karamanlis showed a “red card” to Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday evening, when, in a rare appearance, publicly took position on the wiretapping scandal where the National intelligence Service surveilled the leader of PASOK/KINAL Nikos Androulakis.

Speaking at an event held ion the island of Crete, Karamanlis said that an ongoing probe into the National Intelligence Service’s (EYP) wiretaps of political officials and journalists must lead to clarification about “who ordered such a thing and why.”

If the government was behind the incident, “it is not only undemocratic and illegal but also goes beyond all limits of a morbid imagination and political stupidity that it is unthinkable,” Karamanlis stressed.

He insisted, though, that it’s an urgent need to clarify who and with what justification requested the bugging of Androulakis’ phone as well as who is behind the use of Predator illegal spyware against journalists.

In “situations like this, catharsis can only come when there is full clarity,” he underlined and asked “that full light should be shed.”

“Clarity and transparency are, after all, fundamental to a lawful and orderly public life, even more so when issues arise like a phone tap on a political leader, journalist or any citizen,” he said.

Karamanlis ended with speech with a local mantinada* which many understood as a very clear message to PM Mitsotakis:

“Being an eagle is one thing, pretend to be one is another

looking at mountain peaks is one thing, being able to reach it is another.”

Κύριε @kmitsotakis σήμερα από τα Ανώγεια ο κ. #καραμανλης σας αποχαιρέτησε με μία μαντινάδα:
«Άλλο το νασαι αετός
Κι άλλο να τον κάνεις
Άλλο το να θωρείς κορφές
κι άλλο να τις φτάνεις»
Καλά τριήμερα να έχετε.#υποκλοπες #Μητσοτακης pic.twitter.com/lM7Wuave6l

— Άννα Ελεφάντη (@Anna_Elefanti) August 31, 2022

Note that the applauding audience were ND officials and members.

Reactions

Within an hour, sources from Mitsotakis’s office were telling media that the PM is determined to make changes and have full transparency on the wiretapping case.

The Twitter got on fire, with Mitsotakis’ opponents both from ND and opposition parties  to hail Karamanlis and claiming that the rift within the conservative party was big and clear.

Some claimed that the “final blow” will come by former PM Antonis Samaras (2012-2015), also a “foe” of the current PM within the party.

On their part, government supporters and trolls tried to turn white into black and claimed distorting Karamanlis’ speech as addressing Mitsotakis’ critics.

Several mainstream media affiliated with the government targeted KAramanlis as soon as possible and highlighted first of all “the debt Karamanlis left behind driving the country to bankruptcy” and some went even so far to claim that the former PM “is Putin’s man”, has “connections with Russia” and is “a companion of Tsipras” accusing him of being left-wing.

Another interesting aspect of Karamanlis is that he expressed his support to Olga Kefalogianni, a politician and daughter of the deceased MichalisKefalogiannis, a ND official and leader of the second powerful right-wing politicians family on Crete, next to the Mitsotakis.

As Mitsotakis’ successors line up for a race, the name of Olga Keffalogianni has been making the rounds in the last ten days, after the wiretapping scandal broke out.

*mantinada is an art of rhythmical narrative or dialogue with rhyme, very popular on Crete.

PS The main problem of conservative New Democracy is that its lawmakers and supporters believe that the party leader has to be an offspring of the few political families in the country.

Patriarchy prevails in Greece still in the second decade of the 21. century.