[InTime News]
The main opposition PASOK on Saturday sharply criticized Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis following the resignation of his recently appointed deputy agriculture minister, saying Makarios Lazaridis ultimately stepped down on his own after days of government protection.
Lazaridis, appointed in a recent cabinet reshuffle after several ministers resigned over an ongoing farm subsidies scandal, resigned Saturday amid a dispute over his academic qualifications. He said he was stepping down to avoid distracting the government from its work.
“The resignation of Mr Lazaridis highlights how weak the prime minister is,” PASOK said in a statement.
“In defiance of truth, legality and meritocracy, and even of the distance kept by leading New Democracy figures, Mr Mitsotakis spent days endorsing his personal patronage,” the party said.
It added that “in the end, Mr Lazaridis opened the door to his own exit, as his admission that he defrauded the state was not, for Mr Mitsotakis, a reason for dismissal.”
Lazaridis had faced criticism over a degree he submitted in 2007 to serve as an expert scientist in the office of the late education minister Marietta Giannakou.