PASOK chief warns dissenters of expulsions

In his first public statement, made on state broadcaster ERT, since his leadership of the party was challenged in the wake of the European elections, socialist PASOK's president, Nikos Androulakis, adopted a hard line on Monday threatening those who insist on "toxic speech, introversion and discord" with expulsions.

The decisions regarding the request to go to the internal party polls for the leadership are being referred to the Central Committee after a discussion in the Political Council, which will meet jointly with the Parliamentary Group on Wednesday. Androulakis warned that anyone who does not respect the decisions of the Central Committee faces expulsion, while he denounced what he described as premeditated moves and a dismissive attitude toward the essence of politics.

He further accused his critics of only succeeding in taking the spotlight away from the real...