Evangelia Liakouli spoke about Parliament employees who are experiencing workplace mistreatment due to the extreme conditions created in the room of the parliamentary inquiry committee. The PASOK MP, as seen in the televised coverage, was covering her ears while Zoe Konstantopoulou was shouting intensely, and then left the room in visible discomfort.

“It is painful, and we all bear responsibility for what I am about to say. Yesterday, a Parliament employee came to me crying and told me she is leaving because she can’t take it anymore. She can’t handle the tension in our committee. We should all think about that,” Ms. Liakouli initially said, continuing:

“There is often tension in the committee when witnesses refuse to answer, but there are also tensions created off-microphone, and your presidium limits them unilaterally. Someone may say various things with their microphone turned off and in an underhanded way. I’m not referring to the president, but when the president is replaced, a problem arises.”

Without naming those responsible for the recurring tensions, Ms. Liakouli added: “Under these conditions, I cannot endure. I cannot endure decibel levels of this magnitude, wherever they come from. Self-restraint is required. We have all suffered various things, and we all bear responsibility for this.”

Zoe Konstantopoulou reacted by commenting: “Vaguely and with vagueness.”