ATHENS – Changing her tune, Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura resigned to run for European Parliament after wanting to keep her seat, with the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA pushing through Parliament legislation allowing candidates who are ministers to do so.
It was called the Kountoura Amendment and mocked by other candidates for the May 26 elections from rival parties. There was no explanation from Kountoura why she changed her mind and left her position.
She had been with the government’s previous coalition partner, the tiny, pro-austerity, jingoistic Independent Greeks (ANEL) before the party leader, then defense chief Panos Kammenos, quit in objection to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ deal renaming The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as North Macedonia, giving away the name of an ancient Greek province.
To keep her position, Kountoura defied Kammenos, defended Tsipras and lost her standing with ANEL, claiming she wanted to vote her conscience and back the Leftists, whose ideologies are antithetical to her alleged principles.
Her resignation letter was submitted to Tsipras, whom she thanked, and in which she praised the tourism industry that has been on a record run for several consecutive years, helping Greece struggle to recovery from a nine-year economic and austerity crisis.
“I will fight with the same passion I had to make Greece a world champion in tourism… to make Greece a protagonist in Europe,” Kountoura said, although SYRIZA candidates are trailing the major opposition New Democracy for the European and Greek municipal elections on the same date.
Giorgos Amiras from New Democracy, on his party’s ticket to be a European lawmaker, resigned his seat in the Greek Parliament to run, taking a shot at Kountoura.
“I decided not to use the shameful ‘Kountoura’ amendment that was legislated by SYRIZA, which abolished the conflict of interest clause between a candidate for the European Parliament and a serving MP,” Amiras had said.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
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