Determined to clearly set the red lines of New Democracy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis appears in the wake of former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras‘ expulsion. The Maximou Mansion believes that this harsh, but de facto necessary, decision clarifies the landscape and defines the boundaries as to the ruling party’s physiognomy. Loosely speaking, this means that Antonis Samaras has exceeded them.

In a nutshell, this means that in a free and clear sense, it is the result of the compromise that has been reached.

As a result, this afternoon at 18:00 Samaras will be formally out of the parliamentary group of the New Democracy Party, as the Ethics Committee will meet in the Parliament. The former prime minister is absent in the US, so he will not appear before the committee chaired by Giannis Tragakis, while the decision of the parliamentary group will be followed by the decision of party secretary Maria Syregnella to expel him from the ND as well. The decision will constitute a break in time, as historically in the course of the ND and despite the occasional harsh clashes between current and former presidents, no former president and prime minister had ever seen the exit door.

Discussion over

According to government sources, however, the debate as to the decision to expel Antonis Samaras will not continue in the near future with a government initiative, as Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants to put an end to the feedback of an internal party issue. Besides, as they say from the Maximos Mansion, there is not much to say anymore, since the government has made its positions clear, while the former prime minister has done the same, resulting in his banishment.

The crucial thing, however, is that the top government echelons believe that Samaras’ deletion will not have an impact on the party’s parliamentary group. This means that all the blue MPs will vote in favour of the budget, which has the de facto character of a vote of confidence, and as it was put by people with knowledge of the processes, it would be de facto difficult for some MPs to follow the former prime minister on a path into the unknown. Besides, there is still no picture of Samaras’ broader plans.

“There will be no new Sybilides,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis estimated yesterday, referring to the defection of New Democracy MPs in 1993 that led to the collapse of the then government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

On time for the election of the President of the Republic

As such, government sources are signalling that there is no question of early elections, with Mitsotakis proceeding as normal with his planning that has a horizon of 2027. Also, Mitsotakis does not intend to bring forward the process for the election of President of the Republic, which is set for early in the new year. The issue is critical, as everyone believes that until the presidential election, and against the backdrop of discussions about his political profile, turbulence will continue.

Samaras’ decisions

Maximou’s assessments, of course, have little to do with the former prime minister, who will be on the other side of the Atlantic by the end of the week. Instead internally, his press office director Nikos Tsioutsias has taken on the role of spokesman, while it remains to be seen whether Samaras will choose to make any new interventions in the next few months.

As a matter of fact, however, it is considered difficult for the former prime minister to undertake any direct political initiative in the form of a party, despite the fact that his interlocutors and associates do not refute the relevant scenario, nor do they confirm it. What is certain, however, is that Samaras will not remain silent in the coming period.

Karamanlis’ discomfort

The attitude of another former prime minister, Kosta Karamanlis, will also be interesting in the coming period. Karamanlis has decided this week to make only one intervention, this coming Friday in Patras, at the book launch of journalist George Harvalias.

According to well-placed sources, Karamanlis will make his discomfort clear, as he considers the deletion of a former president and prime minister to be an extreme move. This, of course, does not mean that Karamanlis had prior knowledge of Samaras’ intervention in its full dimension, nor does it mean that he expresses it in its entirety.