PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis has replaced Evangelia Liakouli, MP and former secretary of the party’s parliamentary group, from the preliminary inquiry committee on Tempi.

The replacement of Ms. Liakouli with Pavlos Christidis was announced just hours after her heated exchange with Androulakis during Wednesday evening’s parliamentary group meeting.

However, PASOK sources claim that Liakouli’s replacement was pre-scheduled, as the MP had to attend an event in Igoumenitsa.

The Incident and the Heated Exchange

The confrontation took place during a PASOK parliamentary group meeting, which focused on housing policy. During the session, Androulakis reiterated the party’s stance on the Tempi inquiry.

When the floor was opened for MPs to ask questions, Evangelia Liakouli, former parliamentary group secretary and regular member of the inquiry committee, requested to speak.

According to reports, Liakouli began by stating that she had not been informed about PASOK’s position regarding Triantopoulos’ request for the Judicial Council. She also mentioned that an online meeting had taken place with PASOK’s leader, the other inquiry committee member, Milena Apostolaki, and a few of Androulakis’ close associates.

The Larissa MP emphasized that she had been asked by the media for an interview but was not fully briefed on the party’s stance. She added that just as she had been informed about the proposal for the inquiry committee by Apostolaki, she had only learned about the recent developments from Dimitris Biagkis, the current parliamentary group secretary, after the fact.

At that point, Androulakis, visibly irritated, reportedly turned to Liakouli and said:
“What meeting? There was no meeting! I was at Venizelos’ event. This is all in your imagination. Milena didn’t decide anything. I’m the president. I decided on the inquiry committee, I decided on the no-confidence motion, I decided on the party’s stance on Triantopoulos.”

The exchange escalated further.
“Listen to me, madam,” Androulakis is said to have told her.

To which Liakouli fired back:
“I am not your ‘madam’; I am an elected MP of this party.”

When Androulakis continued in the same tone, saying,
“I won’t allow you to blow up this parliamentary group meeting with lies and fantasies. I won’t tolerate games with the party’s unity,”

Liakouli retorted:
“And I won’t allow anyone to say that I am undermining the party’s unity. I have stood firm in tough times and continue to fight both inside and outside Parliament.”