With her letter to Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Speaker of the Parliament, the head of Freedom of Navigation, Zoe Konstantopoulou, returns to her complaints about parliamentary bullying, which, as she states, she became the recipient of during the election of the Speaker of the Parliament. Zoe Konstantopoulou requests that they take an initiative in order to avoid the repetition of similar behaviors that constitute disparagement and gender discrimination against her.

Here is the full letter from Zoe Konstantopoulou:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
Honorable Mr. Speaker of the Parliament,

As the Leader of the Freedom Movement and the only female Leader of a Parliamentary Party, I am writing this letter to you, in view of today’s commencement of the substantive work of the Parliament, and I ask that you undertake the initiatives within the scope of your state and political responsibility, in order to avoid the repetition and escalation of phenomena of parliamentary bullying and discrimination due to gender, which occurred during the session of the Plenary of the Parliament on 4/7/2023, for the election of the President of the Parliament.

In particular, when I was invited to record my vote and to give reasons for the vote of the Freedom of Navigation Parliamentary Group, as I had already informed the second of you that I would do, in order to record the “Present” vote as a position of principle and not as a substantive personal censure towards the second of you, with an emphasis on the importance of the institutional role of the Speaker of the Parliament, underlining our willingness to contribute to the strengthening of parliamentary functioning, were expressed by the Parliamentary Group of the New Democracy, of which the first of you heads, anti-parliamentary behaviors with shouts of disparagement, exclamations, and harassment in order not to hear the few words I uttered, as recorded in the minutes:
“ZOI KONSTANTOPOULOU (President of Freedom of Navigation): My vote is “PRESENT”. The vote of the “PARON” Freedom of Navigation Parliamentary Group is given for reasons of principle, without personal criticism of the candidate for President, Mr. Tasoula. And on the occasion of this process, I would like to state that the Freedom of Navigation Parliamentary Group will contribute to the strengthening of the parliamentary function knowing the importance of the institutional position of the Speaker of the House, which I have also served. Thanks.”

The fact that in this institutional, parliamentary position, an attempt at parliamentary bullying was manifested on the part of the New Democracy Parliamentary Group, causes great concern. Especially since, during my previous repeated, face-to-face and telephone communications with the second of you, it was fully informed and agreed that there would be this brief intervention, which absolutely promotes parliamentary functioning.

Much more troubling is the fact that the reactions were manifested in a targeted and coordinated manner against me personally, i.e. against the only female Party Leader in Parliament, while previously 4 men, including 2 Party Leaders and 2 MPs, had clarified their vote in a similar way. without the slightest reaction. In particular, before me, Mr. Pafilis, who is not a Party Leader, the Leader of the Victory Party, the Leader of the Spartan Party and one more MP from the Spartan Party had clarified the KKE vote. In none of these 4 positions in total, of which 2 were made by male MPs, and the other two by male political leaders, and of which 2 were even from the same party, there was not the slightest reaction from the Parliamentary Group of New Democracy, which reacted in an anti-parliamentary way only to my position, that is to say the only female Political Leader.

Because the question of equality and respect for the personality of men and women and the prohibition of discrimination based on gender is an element of culture and democracy and because clearly the reactions expressed involve discrediting and a disposition to shame based on gender, i.e. discrimination that should be stigmatized by political power and not to be adopted and encouraged, I call on you, in your institutional capacity, to ensure the non-repetition of the phenomenon which is in every way unjustified and reprehensible and constitutes a collapse of parliamentary morals and an independent violation of the orderly and smooth functioning of Parliament , which the second of you proclaimed, and rightly so, that you would protect.

For my part, I repeat my intention to contribute, both with my experience and my capacity as a Former Speaker of the Parliament but also as the Head of the Freedom Movement and the only female Party Leader, to the strengthening of the parliamentary function, which is the top function of the Republic. I am, like you, in the Parliament to represent the citizens, this is my responsibility, and the exercise of my duties, in the name of the citizens, should be unimpeded. I hope and expect that you will ensure that my parliamentary presence does not encounter any more such anti-parliamentary, gender-based events, which have been recorded in the past and are a thing of the past.