Stavros Kalafatis

By unanimous decision of the Ethics Committee of the New Democracy party, former party president and former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has been removed from the party’s Parliamentary Group.

The grand military parade marked the conclusion of today’s celebrations for the triple commemoration of Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki, the anniversary of Thessaloniki’s liberation, and the national anniversary of October 28, 1940.

Following Marios Salmas’ removal from the New Democracy the parliamentary group, the party finds itself in a state of heightened activity. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is currently in New York for key meetings with world leaders such as Tayyip Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron.

Marios Salmas has been expelled from New Democracy after being ousted from the party’s parliamentary group earlier today.

“By decision of Maria Syreggela, the Secretary of the New Democracy Political Committee, Mr. Marios Salmas is expelled from the party,” announced ND headquarters in Piraeus.

The announcement regarding Salmas’ expulsion from ND’s Parliamentary Group stated:

The Ethics Committee of the New Democracy (ND) party unanimously confirmed the expulsion of Marios Salmas, MP for Aetolia-Acarnania, who had been referred to the committee by Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Governing party New Democracy MPs were invited to attend informational sessions on the new legislation on same-sex marriage by party secretary Stavros Kalafatis on Thursday.

A proposal was submitted to Parliament on Monday by some 30 MPs of the ruling New Democracy party asking for the expansion of the indictments against former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is accused of politically motivated interference in the investigation into the Novartis bribery case. 

Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas condemned the attack at the office of a New Democracy lawmaker by PAOK fans in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Wednesday evening.

"We understand the love the friends PAOK have for their team, but we consider any violence unacceptable," he said. "Violence has no room in democracy."

At least 20,000 refugees and migrants will be transferred from the Greek islands to the mainland by the end of the year, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis was cited as saying by New Democracy sources on Thursday.

After Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' return from New York on September 29, a plenary session of Parliament is set to discuss a proposal by ruling New Democracy for the creation of a special investigative committee to probe "the clear signs" that former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos intervened in the alleged bribery scandal involving Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis t