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Greek minister resigns amid row over antisemitic tweets
Source: Reuters
Greek minister resigns amid row over antisemitic tweets
Reuters
Thursday 24 September 2015 16.55 BST
The resignation of a Greek junior minister hours after his appointment has exposed the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, to fierce criticism and highlighted the challenge he faces to keep a fractious coalition together.
With the ink barely dry on Wednesday’s cabinet appointments by the newly re-elected prime minister, the deputy infrastructure and transport minister, Dimitris Kammenos, was asked to resign in a furore over offensive postings he was alleged to have made on Twitter.
Kammenos, an MP with the rightwing Independent Greeks party, has denied allegations of antisemitism and homophobia, saying his social media accounts had been tampered with and most of the alleged postings falsified.
Tsipras needs the Independent Greeks’ 10 MPs to give the government a slim majority of 155 seats out of 300.
Tsipras, who appointed Kammenos on the recommendation of his coalition partner, appeared oblivious to the minister’s reputation for controversial comments – the legislator was lambasted by Jewish organisations in the summer for likening Greece’s economic predicament to Auschwitz.
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Reuters
Thursday 24 September 2015 16.55 BST
The resignation of a Greek junior minister hours after his appointment has exposed the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, to fierce criticism and highlighted the challenge he faces to keep a fractious coalition together.
With the ink barely dry on Wednesday’s cabinet appointments by the newly re-elected prime minister, the deputy infrastructure and transport minister, Dimitris Kammenos, was asked to resign in a furore over offensive postings he was alleged to have made on Twitter.
Kammenos, an MP with the rightwing Independent Greeks party, has denied allegations of antisemitism and homophobia, saying his social media accounts had been tampered with and most of the alleged postings falsified.
Tsipras needs the Independent Greeks’ 10 MPs to give the government a slim majority of 155 seats out of 300.
Tsipras, who appointed Kammenos on the recommendation of his coalition partner, appeared oblivious to the minister’s reputation for controversial comments – the legislator was lambasted by Jewish organisations in the summer for likening Greece’s economic predicament to Auschwitz.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/24/greek-minister-resigns-amid-row-over-antisemitic-tweets