The reasons that led him to resignation from the party “Hope for Democracy” were explained by retired Air Force General Athanasios Papanikolaou, speaking on ERT News Radio 105.8 and on the program “Modestly and Humbly” with Dimitris Petropoulos.
As he noted, his involvement in the initiative was limited from the outset, as he did not play an active role in party proceedings nor did he participate in meetings or decision-making bodies. “I believed that a citizens’ movement was taking shape, and that is why I stood by Ms. Karystianou. Along the way, however, I realized that nothing of the sort has materialized, at least not yet,” he noted, leaving open the possibility that it might happen in the future.
Referring to his initial support for the leader of the party , he explained that he had signed the founding declaration and sent a video message expressing his views on foreign policy and geopolitical issues, which was used during the political party’s presentation. However, as he emphasized, he had not participated in the event at the Olympion nor in any organizational processes.
Mr. Papanikolaou argued that he had expected a structure involving grassroots participation, collective processes, dialogue, and democratic functioning. As he said, there was no clear articulation of political positions nor any opportunity to communicate with party representatives, a fact that raised serious concerns for him.
He made special mention of foreign policy issues, arguing that he repeatedly requested information on the party’s positions in order to determine whether he agreed with them, but received no response. “When you see a closed circle of people discussing and making decisions without transparency, you wonder what your role is in all of this,” she noted.
Commenting on statements made by Maria Karistianou regarding foreign policy and her characterization of the prime minister as a “traitor” due to his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the retired air force general expressed his disagreement , describing such an approach as “extreme.” As he noted, Greece has historically maintained channels of communication with Turkey regardless of the tensions that occasionally arise in bilateral relations.
In closing, he clarified that he has no personal conflict with Ms. Karystianou and expressed his respect for her efforts regarding the Tembi case. He emphasized, however, that the transition from a social struggle and a personal drama to the creation of a political movement or party is an extremely difficult process. “I didn’t see anything along the way that convinced me that what I had initially hoped for could come to fruition, and that is why I felt it was the honorable thing to do to step down and announce it publicly,” he concluded.
