SYRIZA MP Achtsioglou criticizes gov't over ex-king's death and funeral

The referendum of 1974 put an end to the question of the type of state Greeks want, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance Deputy Effi Achtsioglou said on Saturday, on the former king's funeral.

Speaking to ANT1 television, the head of economic issues division at the main opposition party said, "The Greek people do not remember royal rule with nostalgia. The specific individual has linked his name with the darkest colors, and history has pronounced its judgment."

Referring to the death of ex-king Constantine who will be buried from the Athens Metropolis at the former royal estate of Tatoi on Monday, Achtsioglou said, "A man lost his life, and we express our condolences to his family - this is a given - but beyond that, we will neither rewrite history nor whitewash a regime."

Criticizing the way the government handled it, she said, "A private citizen is being buried and there should have been no interministerial conference on this, nor should his family members be coming and going to Maximos Mansion to discuss things with a top-level minister, nor have the government's vice president attend the funeral." The latter referred to the fact that the culture minister was to represent the government as being responsible for the national heritage site of Tatoi.

Achtsioglou also questioned the phrasing of ministers' condolences messages, some of which sounded as if the deceased died as an active king, and said this should not happen in a party "that takes a clear stance for parliamentary democracy."

The Syriza MP also responded to a statement by Labor Minister Kostis Chatzidakis, "who said the government decided not to provide a state funeral or one with honors, because Syriza would rally at Syntagma Square." In other words, "it was not a decision based on principle, but one related to weighing in the political cost. This is a very serious problem," she added.