Konstantinos Tasoulas, the Speaker of the House, condemned Pavlos Polakis’ behavior as “repugnant, unacceptable, and disgusting” and announced a salary cut for the MP following the unprecedented incident in the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee.
Tasoulas labeled Polakis as a “vulgar attention seeker through insults” and emphasized that such behavior would not be tolerated. “Let him enjoy the mud alone,” he said.
Watch the Video of Tasoulas’ Intervention in the Plenary
Statement from Konstantinos Tasoulas:
In his speech, Tasoulas stated:
“We had yet another repugnant, unacceptable, and disgusting instance of unacceptable behavior by a colleague towards a woman doing her job in a parliamentary committee, who was subjected to a barrage of insulting and abusive behavior from Mr. Pavlos Polakis. She had to endure a repugnant and insulting tone with comments such as ‘Don’t make that face, madam, you have a permanent twist of the face’ and other similar derogatory remarks that are beyond any acceptable behavior.
Honestly, believe me, no matter how ambitious one might be to be the Speaker of the House, I am ashamed that I am forced to deal with such colleagues who make me feel such shame for parliamentary representation as embodied by people like Mr. Polakis, who has repeatedly exposed his party.
I will not allow this vulgar attention seeker through insults to offend the dignity of us all. This repeated abusive and humiliating behavior, which is preposterously manly, will no longer be tolerated. It is unbearable…
We will not allow anyone, Mr. Polakis, to drag our image through the mud. Let him enjoy the mud alone. The House rules were not made for the likes of Polakis…
I will exhaust the strictness of the regulations on him. We clearly have a violation of Article 77 which merits censure and, with your permission, with a new provision, which is also epic—because even then we did not imagine such behavior—a reduction of half of his salary.
If he continues with this behavior, be assured that with successive decisions we will help greatly with this vulgarity on the country’s finances. We cannot tolerate such behavior simply because we fear that Polakis will insult us. We are starting now, and this is the first measure; there will be more severe measures.”
Famellos: Shocking Behavior, Not Aligned with Our Principles
Immediately following the Speaker, Sokratis Famellos, the head of the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group, addressed the chamber. He described the behavior as shocking and not aligned with the party’s principles.
“I can comment on the incident and simultaneously condemn it. I want to say upfront that I and the Parliamentary Group, as well as the SYRIZA president, Stefanos Kasselakis, were informed through both videos and minutes about the unacceptable and offensive behavior. We expressed our ‘apology’ to the colleague and the Parliament, emphasizing the need to uphold ethics and the inviolable moral and political principles that distinguish us all, especially leftist politicians,” Famellos stated.
“Firstly, I must institutionally inform you that following a proposal from SYRIZA president Stefanos Kasselakis, you will receive a letter from me shortly stating that Pavlos Polakis is expelled from the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group,” he highlighted and condemned Polakis’ behavior.
“It is a shocking behavior that does not align with our principles and with the parliamentary process as a whole,” he added.
“The incident was unacceptable,” he stressed at another point.
“We must not be swayed into such extreme expressions; we must adhere to ethical standards because we have had other similar incidents in Parliament. Remember the physical assault. I am not making comparisons; we must protect the democratic function and our image,” he concluded.
Koukoulopoulos: Aligning with Tasoulas’ Core Statements
Other MPs from different parties also condemned the incident. Paris Koukoulopoulos from PASOK expressed condemnation of the attack and aligned himself with the core of Konstantinos Tasoulas’ statements.
SYRIZA MP Kostas Barkas apologized on behalf of his party for the incident.
Evangelia Liakouli, Secretary of the PASOK – Movement for Change Parliamentary Group and rapporteur on the Ministry of Health’s mental health bill, stated that the events in the Social Affairs Committee during the discussion of the “Completion of Psychiatric Reform” bill cause only shame and sadness.
“The overall behavior and personal attack by Mr. Polakis on a minister’s assistant, particularly with references to her appearance and facial features, in a despicable manner, is inconceivable. We unequivocally condemn Mr. Polakis’ behavior, who unfortunately proves daily that he has no limits,” said Liakouli.
Both the Victory and Spartiates MPs also condemned the incident, describing Mr. Polakis’ behavior as inappropriate.
