The confrontation in the House of Representatives has been taken to the extreme, with the leader of Pleasure of Freedom accusing the ND parliamentary representative of being a “denier of the genocide of the Pontians” and him responding in a strong tone.
The plenary session of the Parliament turned into a field of fierce political conflict on Thursday (21/05) at noon, with Zoe Konstantopoulou and Dimitris Kairidis exchanging heavy-handed characterizations on the occasion of national issues.
The spark of tension was ignited when Mrs Konstantopoulou launched a personal attack on Mr Kairidis, claiming that he leaves the room in haste whenever the debate concerns national issues. Continuing her attack, the leader of the Eleftherias Alliance called him “a “praiser of the partition of Cyprus” and claimed that the ND MP “denies the genocide of the Pontians“.
Dimitris Kairidis’ reaction was immediate and highly charged. Taking the floor, he categorically rejected the allegations, stressing that this particular report brutally offends him on a personal level, as he himself is of Pontian origin.
“I don’t understand what all this has to do with the insult against me as a denier of the genocide of the Pontians,” said Kairidis, going on the counterattack.
The majority parliamentary representative even linked Ms Konstantopoulou’s rhetoric to that of the far-right, noting that similar expressions were recently used by Mr Heta of the Hellenic Solution, and earlier by the convicted leader of Golden Dawn.
“I consider the hubris to be grave, it offends me … This was said only by you, Hellenic Solution and Michaloliakos, so you identify with the goldism. Remove the fascist stuff, because saying that you are not, does not mean that you are not,” Kairidis concluded in a stern tone.
