Monday, January 26, 2015

Panos Kammenos, the cumbersome ally Alexis Tsipras – The World

Panos Kammenos, the cumbersome ally Alexis Tsipras – The World

Le Monde | • Updated | By

Panos Kammenos and Alexis Tsipras in Athens on 26 January.

The alliance between the radical left Syriza and the populist right Independent Greeks (ANEL) cringe in Europe and in Greece. In a pragmatic sense, Alexis Tsipras chose to ally with Panos Kammenos, a politician who has vigorously fought the austerity measures and the “troika” (International Monetary Fund, European Commission, European Central Bank).

The reconciliation between the two men started in May 2012, after the parliamentary elections that did not yield a majority. The president of the SYRIZA had then already indicated its willingness to accept the vote of support or tolerance ANEL. One member of the Syriza, Dimitris Papadimoulis, had strongly criticized this intervention: “The past and the opinions of Kammenos place it to the right of New Democracy, making impossible a post-election cooperation. “

Two and a half later, this collaboration seems possible, although the debate still rages on between supporters of SYRIZA realism, who consider that the priority is the economic issue, those who consider this alliance against nature.

About outrageous

Born in 1965, Panos Kammenos is a kind of archetype of the Greek politician, demagogue , populist, and speaking loudly about not shrink from any outrageous. The last is particularly embarrassing. In December, he said in a television interview that “Buddhists, Jews and Muslims did not pay taxes” , in contrast to the Orthodox church, “could lose monasteries “. In the same interview, he denounced cremation and civil partnerships for homosexuals.

Panos Kammenos has spent most of his political career in the New Democratic ranks. Minister of the Navy from 2006 to 2008, it was he who negotiated the concession including the port of Piraeus to the Chinese, in 2008. This does not prevent from wearing t-shirts that says ” Greece is not for sale “. It is for a rebalancing of relations of Greece: “Our membership in NATO and the European Union does not prevent us to maintain close political, economic and cultural relations with other countries especially with those with whom we have historical ties, such as Russia and China, “, he explained in October 2014 in Germany. He asks the “ respect for the sovereignty of the member states of the European Union.”

He left New Democracy in November 2011, when its president Antonis Samaras has abandoned his criticism of Understanding to support the interim government of former Vice-President of the ECB, Lucas Papademos. He founded in February 2012, the Independent Greeks at Distomo, the Greek Oradour-sur-Glane, explaining that the Greece “was a victim of an international conspiracy.”

polemics Object

With aggressive speech against the “troika”, he managed to reach 10% of the vote, three months after the creation of his party in parliamentary elections in May 2012 . In between elections, it is the center of a controversy. The President shall consult the parties to try to establish a national unity government. In a letter, Mr. Kammenos says he is ready to participate in such a government if his party won the Ministry of Defence. He denied writing the letter and accused of lies the Presidency services, which is equivalent to a crime of treason.

The relationships within the party are electric. Many members have slammed the door or were excommunicated. He is regularly the subject of controversy for his remarks or his lifestyle. If he promises to tackle corruption and tax havens, press revelations on the possession of a supposed family yacht owned by offshore companies or jobs paid by European funds in the house of his mother-in Icarus the island to turn into a tourist residence made headlines. Mr. Kammenos denied any impropriety and prosecuted those who accused him.

He acknowledged and justified hiring at the expense of the state of one of his cousins ​​to work in Parliament. “This is a university professor. He works in the organization of my party. He works from morning to night. What is the problem? “ Retail Ultimate: cousin has exactly the same name as him Panayotis Kammenos (Panos is a diminutive)

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