Two ministers and close aidees of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were forced to resign on Thursday, following a meeting with a powerful businessman.
Minister of State Stavros Papastavrou and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Ioannis Bratakοs submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday evening.
The Prime Minister thanked them for their cooperation and accepted their resignations.
Speaking to media, government sources said that the participation of the two ministers in a social gathering sent the wrong message.
The resignations come after an uproar caused by the news that the two ministers had a meeting with businessman and publisher Vangelis Marinakis.
The meeting was quickly denied by state Minister Akis Skertsos when PASOK/KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis brought the issue during the debate on no confidence vote in Parliament on Thursday. However, it was confirmed a bit later by government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis who described it as “friendly”, daily efsyn.gr reported on its website.
It should also be noted that the meeting in question reportedly took place on Sunday, March 23, shortly after the big revelation of Marinakis’ newspaper “To Vima“ that audio recordings between the station master and a train driver were tampered short after the train disaster in Tempi.
The revelations of tovima have reportedly cause heavy displeasure to PM’s office.
According to media reports, Androulakis raised the issue of the two ministers after the government accused him of tabling the no confidence motion due to being “entangled” with a certain businessman.
He then asked why the two ministers had drinks and cigars on Sunday night together with the same businessman.
“Did you send them to smoke cigars or a peace pipe?” Androulakis asked.
It is the third time, that close aidees of the Prime Minister are forced to resign following scandals like the Predator and the e-mails data protection breach.
PS How many scandals can this government withstand? Time will show…
Will Marinakis’ newspaper “To Vima“ also reveal details or audio tapes about the possible role of Marinakis in the case of the NOOR ONE? Remember the drug smuggling with that ship in 2014?