PASOK MP Flies Cookoos Nest - Does Not Back Gov't Coalition Legislation

Fears that government many Greek MPs are suffering from “fatigue” because they are being pressured into voting for new and unpopular measures was the subject of the day on Wednesday after PASOK’s Theodora Tzakri became the latest coalition lawmaker to refuse to support legislation.

According to press reports, Tzakri voted “present” for an amendment concerning the settling of state debt to the Athens Water and Sewage Company (EYDAP), a move that is seen  as a step toward privatizing the service. The amendment passed with just 51 votes in favor and 44 against in Parliament’s pared-down summer session. Nonetheless, after the ballot, Tzakri accused Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of wanting to "sell" Greece's silver, forgetting all the while that it was her own party -or the George Papandreou government- that signed on to these measures many months ago.

     “The stance I took is natural for progressive forces who want to stop Mr Samaras’s plans to sell off the country,” she noted. 

Tzakri's action and comments sparked a flurry of calls from PASOK’s leadership and surprise, surprise she later released a more moderate statement that more or less took a step back at everything she said earlier in the day.

     “I disagree with the terms under which EYDAP is being privatized and that is why I voted ‘present,’” she said.